'Inspired by Race 3': Twitter reacts after Sonia Gandhi deviates from her decision to quit as Congress party chief

'Inspired by Race 3': Twitter reacts after Sonia Gandhi deviates from her decision to quit as Congress party chief

Sonia Gandhi to remain Congress party's interim president for now, new chief to be elected within next 6 months.

FPJ Web DeskUpdated: Monday, August 24, 2020, 07:06 PM IST
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Sonia Gandhi | Photo by ANI

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, who had earlier offered to quit from her post as party chief will reportedly continue as the party's interim president till the next AICC session.

According to ANI, "Sonia Gandhi to remain Congress party's interim president for now, new chief to be elected within next 6 months. Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting has concluded after 7 hours."

Here are some Twitter reactions to the news of Sonia not resigning.

The Congress Working Committee on Monday appeared set to close ranks behind Sonia Gandhi, urging her to stay on as party chief after she offered to step down as interim president following a letter by more than 20 leaders demanding an "active, full-time and visible" president.

Though a large section of the leaders backed Sonia Gandhi at the nearly seven-hour virtual meeting of the Congress' highest decision-making body to discuss the pivotal leadership issue, the fault lines were clear and appeared to deepen at some points as the day progressed.

Former president Rahul Gandhi, it is learnt, launched a sharp attack against the signatories, questioning their timing as well as the fact they went public with their grievances. He also rued the fact that the letter - seeking sweeping changes to the party organisation and elections to the CWC -- was written when Sonia Gandhi was in hospital and the party was battling a political crisis in Rajasthan. He said Sonia Gandhi had accepted charge as party president only after the CWC last year urged her to take the responsibility.

"It is the CWC and not the media, where we voice our grievances and discuss issues," sources quoted Rahul Gandhi as telling the CWC members. They also said Rahul insinuated that the letter would help the BJP.

Earlier in the day, Kapil Sibal, senior leader and one of the signatories of the letter, created a flutter when he hit out at Rahul Gandhi on Twitter for a purported remark on the BJP.

Sibal, who is not a part of the CWC, withdrew his tweet a little later.

"Was informed by Rahul Gandhi personally that he never said what was attributed to him. I therefore withdraw my tweet," he said on Twitter.

The Congress also denied that Rahul Gandhi had accused any party leader of "colluding with the BJP".

"Rahul Gandhi hasn't said a word of this nature nor alluded to it. Please don't be misled by false media discourse or misinformation being spread.

"But yes, we all need to work together in fighting the draconian Modi rule rather then fighting & hurting each other and the Congress," the party's chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter, tagging Sibal's earlier tweet.

The letter is the second challenge to Sonia Gandhi's leadership after 1999 when then leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sharad Pawar raised the issue of her foreign origins in order to keep her from being named the party's prime ministerial face in the general elections that year.

Sonia Gandhi then resigned in the CWC, which rejected her move unanimously bringing her back as party president. While Sonia Gandhi went on to become the longest serving Congress president, Pawar and rebels quit to form the NCP.

With PTI inputs

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