NEW DELHI: The uncertainty over who will lead Congress after Rahul Gandhi ’s resignation seems set to linger indefinitely, with party managers unable to thrash out the vexed issue.Amid intense speculation about Rahul’s plan to leave for a week-long trip, senior party sources acknowledged that they will not be able to meet the deadline of July 20 they had informally set for themselves to settle the leadership question. “There is no consensus on any name,” a senior party said.The acknowledgement suggested that a plan to get a veteran, preferably a Dalit , to stand in until a member of the Gandhi family could be brought in to take charge, has run into unexpected problems, including resistance from those who prefer a young leader to take over the reins. Punjab CM Amarinder Singh has twice publicly spoken against the plan to get a veteran who, as a party source put it, is safe and unlikely to create complications for the group who are likely to play the eminence grise.Sources also spoke about the emergence of another group which derives its influence from perceived proximity to Rahul and which has been smarting under the hold that the seniors enjoy over the party apparatus. The group has been calling for far more radical measures, including a purge at the top.Faced with pressures and counter pressures, party managers are exploring whether the selection issue can be put off for 2-3 months to be decided by holding elections for the top positions. As per the plan, one of several under consideration, K C Venugopal, general secretary in charge of organisation, could be authorised to handle routine issues in consultation with other office-bearers and members of the CWC.But there are doubts whether the stop-gap arrangement will be adequate for preparations for the forthcoming round of assembly elections and other challenges, including eruption of dissidence in state units, which keep proliferating as the party struggles to come out of the trauma of its defeat in June.