Sonia Gandhi will serve as the new interim President of the Congress party, two and half months after her son Rahul Gandhi quit the top organisational post of the party taking responsibility for its humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Pitching it as a stop-gap measure, the party said it will pick a new president when its plenary session is held later this year.
Rahul Gandhi had quit the party's top post in May after a defeat in the Lok Sabha election and subsequently refused the party's requests to withdraw his resignation.
This morning, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi had excused themselves from group meetings held to decide on a new chief, saying they cannot be part of the selection process.
Despite Rahul Gandhi's insistence, the party failed to come up with a non-Gandhi alternative.
Thus, 72-year-old Sonia has returned as the party chief one and half years after she had handed over the baton to 49-year-old Rahul on December 16 in 2017. When Rahul had become the head of the 133-year-old party, it marked a generational shift in the Congress' top leadership.
The Congress Working Committee said all those present in the meeting wanted Rahul Gandhi to continue as the party chief. However, since he refused, Sonia Gandhi was requested to take over as interim president. It also passed a resolution, thanking Rahul Gandhi for his service.
The Congress's state units and the legislature parties took part in the meet that ended around 11 pm. There was suspense over whether the party will elect its new leader or go by nomination, as it happened traditionally.
Source: NDTV, BBC