CWC meet highlights| Rahul Gandhi says his decision to not withdraw resignation is final: Congress

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Updated: Aug 10, 2019 15:50 IST

The Congress Working Committee (CWC) met Saturday morning to select the party’s new chief after former president Rahul Gandhi tendered his resignation in May following party’s poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections. The top body will meet again in the evening.

I have asked Venugopal ji to widen the consultation process and take a considered decision to select the new Congress president. I have asked him to include all those present here in the deliberations,” Rahul Gandhi had said on Friday at a meeting of the Congress’s general secretaries, state incharges, state unit chiefs, Congress Legislature Party members and members of Parliament.

There are several candidates in the fray for Congress chief’s post, however, among the frontrunners is 59-year-old Mukul Wasnik.

Here are the highlights from today’s CWC meet:

*CWC to meet again at 8 pm

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that five separate groups are discussing on the appointment of the new party chief. The CWC will met again at 8 pm today to appoint an interim party chief or to come up with an another arrangement.

*Rahul Gandhi says his decision to not withdraw resignation is final

After the CWC meet Saturday morning, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala told media, “Rahul Gandhi has said that his decision to not withdraw his resignation is final.”

Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi to not take part in consultation process

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi left Congress headquarters and said that they will stay out of the consultation process.

“Consultation (to decide next party chief) is going on and naturally me and Rahul ji cannot be a part of it,” Sonia Gandhi said.

*Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to interact with leaders from north region

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will interact with state unit leaders from Delhi, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Chandigarh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

*Manmohan Singh to seek views of leaders from south

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hold a discussion about the next Congress chief with state unit leaders from the south region.

*Ambika Soni to meet leaders from northeast

Ambika Soni will be interacting with the state unit leaders from Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Tripura.

*Sonia Gandhi to interact with Congress leaders from east

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is in the group that will interact with the leaders from Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

*Rahul Gandhi to meet leaders from western region

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will be interacting with state unit leaders from Gujarat, Dadar & Nagar Haveli, Daman & Diu, Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Mharashtra and Mumbai, and Rajasthan.

*CWC members to meet state unit leaders in batches

The CWC members will meet state unit leaders in five batches to seek their views on selecting the new party president. They have been divided into five groups.