Congress leaders hold meeting without Sonia & Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: For the first time in many years, senior Congress leaders conducted a meeting in Delhi on Wednesday without the presence of party president Rahul Gandhi and leader of the parliamentary party Sonia Gandhi. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi was also not there for the meeting, which was led by senior leader AK Antony.

Both Sonia and Priyanka are in Rae Bareli, which is the only one which the Congress managed to win in UP. Party president Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani from Amethi this time.

All the leaders of Congress’ core group, which was dissolved after the Lok Sabha polls, were present during the meeting barring Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. “Rahul Gandhi is the Congress president and will remain so,” said Congress’ communication in-charge Randeep Surjewala, who was present at the meeting. However sources told ET that Rahul Gandhi still hasn’t agreed to carry on as party president.


The leaders discussed the current political situation and the functioning of the Congress, given that assembly elections are coming up in some states. They suggested that there should be a quick review of the party organization in states such as Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand which are scheduled for polls later this year. In Haryana, Congress has not been able to win a single Lok Sabha seat while it has won only one each in Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

Bickering among Congress leaders in Haryana and Maharashtra are harming the party, especially after the debacle in the general elections. In Haryana, party president Ashok Tanwar and senior leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda are holding separate meetings with party workers.