Decks cleared for Rahul's elevation as Cong president; poll on Dec 16

New Delhi, Nov 20: Decks were cleared for the elevation of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday with the Congress Working Committee (CWC) passing a resolution to that effect and announcing that election for the post of party president will be held on December 16.

The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and attended by Mr Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh besides senior leaders A K Anthony and Mallikarjun Kharge and others. The meeting was held at 10 Janpath residence of Ms Sonia Gandhi. According to the election schedule released by the CWC, the process will begin with issuance of notification on December 1, and the last date for filing of nomination is December 4. The scrutiny of papers will be held on December 5 and last date of withdrawal will be December 11. Polling if required will be held on December 16. Counting of votes will be held on December 19, chairman of election authority Mullapaly Ramachandran told reporters here. The CWC also passed a a resolution to make Mr Rahul Gandhi the party president. It is notable that the Election Commission set a December 31 deadline for the party to complete the process of organisational elections. Party leaders say that if only Mr Rahul Gandhi files the nomination for the post of President, and no other candidate comes forward, he will be declared as party president on the last date of the withdrawal of nominations. Party sources said Mr Rahul Gandhi is the only candidate in the fray and was likely to be elected unopposed. Party leaders and activists have been demanding for a long time that Mr Rahul Gandhi be elevated as the party president. The Congress has already completed the task of constituting Pradesh Congress Committees. The Congress Working Committee has already made a request to Ms Sonia Gandhi to hand over the command of the party to Mr Rahul Gandhi. He has also indicated several times that he is ready to take on the responsibility of the post of party president. The sentiment has been conveyed by nearly all PCCs, which have passed resolutions demanding that he take over as president. UNI