The sources said some leaders may be attached to her to decrease her workload. With the CWC meeting held in the backdrop of the letter of 20 party leaders to Sonia Gandhi which raised some heckles, several leaders expressed their views in the meeting lasted for over seven hours.
The Congress's second AICC session in Gujarat post-Independence is being held on the 100th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's party presidency and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
After a three-and-a-half-hour meeting, which was stormy at times, the Congress Working Committee, the party's highest policy making body, authorised incumbent chief Sonia Gandhi to schedule the internal elections after the conclusion of assembly polls in five states due to be held in April-May.
Sources said Sonia Gandhi referred to Azad and others twice during her brief address and the issues raised by them.
As Congress president Sonia Gandhi appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED), party MPs and Congress Working Committee (CWC) members 'courted mass arrest' outside the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi on Thursday in a show of collective solidarity with her.
The Congress Working Committee and the All India Congress Committee secretariat were on Friday reconstituted by Sonia Gandhi, who dropped veterans like Arjun Singh and Mohsina Kidwai and G Venkatswami, who attacked her recently, and inducted new faces in the hierarchy.
After its resounding defeat in the assembly polls in five states, the Congress on Thursday said the results are contrary to its expectations, but it accepts the people's mandate.
An overwhelming number of new appointees across the party's organisational structure -- from the highest decision-making body CWC (Congress Working Committee) to the special committee formed to assist interim party chief Sonia Gandhi -- are known as Rahul Gandhi's confidantes.
Congress Working Committee members could offer their resignation at its meeting on Monday in the wake of the party's worst-ever performance in the Lok Sabha polls, amid indications that it could witness an attack on advisors of party vice president Rahul Gandhi while insulating him from criticism.
The central election authority of the Congress met and finalised the initial program of the process.
Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde was on Thursday made a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, the highest decision-making body of the party.
A majority of Congress leaders said the party will face desertions if Rahul Gandhi does not remain the leader.
The much-awaited reshuffle of the Congress hierarchy, which took place today, saw the exit of veteran Arjun Singh and six others from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and two general secretaries Mohsina Kidwai and V Narayanasamy, who was recently made Minister of State in PMO.
Earlier, only Azad was scheduled to meet Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress Working Committee will meet on Sunday to discuss the outcome of the assembly elections in five states where the party received a drubbing, sources said.
P Chidambaram proposed that Sonia should be made the party's interim president.
'Wait for more action the day after (the Friday meeting).'
He has also convened the first meeting of the extended CWC on July 22 to chalk out the party's future strategy.
Former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh passed away at the age of 92 on Thursday. He will be given a state funeral with full state honors at Nigambodh Ghat on Saturday. Singh served as Prime Minister from 2004 to 2014 and was known for his role in India's economic reforms. Leaders from across the political spectrum paid their respects to the departed leader, highlighting his contributions to the nation.
The Congress Working Committee finally accepted Rahul Gandhi's resignation during its second meeting of the day.
After a long gap, Congress President Sonia Gandhi has convened a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on 4th June to discuss the 'current political and economic situation in the country'.
'Let me reveal for the first time that around August 2019 Congress President Sonia Gandhi told the Congress leadership and CWC members to form a consensus over the name of a non-Gandhi leader.'
After the party's drubbing in the just-concluded assembly polls in five states, Congress president Sonia Gandhi has asked its state unit chiefs in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur to put in their papers.
According to the sources, the CWC will discuss the current COVID-19 situation in the country and steps that need to be taken urgently to check the further spread of the virus.
Beset by troubles on multiple fronts within, the Congress faces the danger of imploding with party veterans Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal on Wednesday sharply questioning the decision-making process, saying there are 'no monopolies', and demanded convening an urgent meeting of the Congress Working Committee for a 'dialogue'.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday chaired his first meeting of the newly constituted Congress Working Committee two days after the no-confidence motion in Lok Sabha which the Opposition lost.
Ahead of a crucial Congress Working Committee meeting, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said no one was taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gandhi does and was fighting resolutely.
With nominations rather than election being the order of the day in Congress, a contest for the membership of the all powerful party Working Committee appears unlikely. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has herself given an indication to this effect by going in once again for the process of nominating the state unit chiefs of the party.
A day after the Congress brainstormed over its electoral reverses, senior leader M Veerappa Moily on Monday said Sonia Gandhi should take "full control" of the party with a free hand to change non-performing leaders, and asserted that a "mere culture of tweets and social media propaganda" would not take the organisation forward.
The meeting of the party's highest decision-making body will go into the reasons behind the party's debacle and discus as to why its poll narrative failed to convince the people.
A senior Congress leader feels the Gandhis should only offer to resign if they are serious about it and have in mind another leader who can take over the party.
Addressing a meeting of the Congress Working Committee, Gandhi said it should worry every Indian and her party will have to work hard to repair this damage.
The government said it was doing whatever possible to reduce prices.
The Congress president also announced that a compact task force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms that are essential.
'Soniaji is like a mother to the party. We revere her even now'
Tharoor also said the Congress must decentralise authority and truly empower the grassroots office-bearers of the party.
The interim panel headed by him would take the place of the Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body, till a new CWC is formed after Kharge's election is ratified at the party plenary.
The Congress on Saturday accused the Centre of insulting Dr Manmohan Singh, the country's first Sikh prime minister, by carrying out his last rites at the Nigambodh Ghat instead of a designated spot that could later become his memorial.
Gandhi said around 400 Congress members will be attending the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur from May 13 to 15 and stressed on the message of every leader holding one party post.
The CWC meeting is being held in Gujarat after a gap of 58 years. It was last held in the state at Bhavnagar in 1961.
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