Sonia Gandhi has right to choose state president, says Mohan Markam after two resolutions passed

Hours after the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee passed a resolution backing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to be the party president, state Congress chief Mohan Markam on Sunday said that the party's national president Sonia Gandhi has all the right to take a call on appointing the new president for the state and said that the party workers here will go as per their directions.

"Respected Sonia Gandhi ji has the right to appoint whoever she wants as the state president. My tenure for three years has been completed and we, as an organization worker, shall follow whatever the high command will direct us to do," Markam said adding that the Chhattisgarh PCC will follow its guidelines and accept whosoever name it will decide.

He said that today two "important resolutions" passed unanimously in the PCC meeting wherein Sonia Gandhi was authorised.

Gandhi has been authorised via the aforesaid proposal to one, choose the state president after the completion of Markam's tenure and to appoint Rahul Gandhi as the national president for the Congress.

Congress Committees of both Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh passed the resolution for making Rahul Gandhi the party president, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the Wayanad MP should "rethink" about his decision on this matter.

Chhattisgarh Congress has unanimously passed a resolution that Rahul Gandhi should take over as party president again.

The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee held an important meeting. The agenda of the meeting is an organizational election in the state unit.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, party state in-charge PL Punia and other leaders of the state.

Notably, the Congress Committee of Rajasthan has also passed a resolution to make Congress leader Rahul Gandhi party president.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented a proposal in the meeting which stated that the Congress president should select the state president of RPCC and AICC delegates.

Congress Working Committee member Raghuveer Meena approved the said proposal, which was also backed by State President Govind Singh Dotsara.

Earlier while addressing the media during Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Wayanad MP had said, "Whether I become president of Congress or not will become clear when the elections for the president post take place. But, I have clearly decided what I will do and there is no confusion in my mind."

The notification for the Congress president's election will be out on September 22. Nominations for the post of Congress president can be filed from September 24 to September 30. The last day of filing the nomination is September 30, 2022, and the last date of withdrawal of nominations is October 8.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) had decided that the election for the Congress president post will be held on October 17, said sources.

The counting of votes will be done on October 19.

This comes in the backdrop of the party's senior leader Gulam Nabi Azad's resignation on Friday.

According to sources, the election for the post of president has now become a challenge for Congress with the reluctance of Rahul Gandhi to contest the polls.

The Central Election Authority has made preparations to complete the election process on time.

The process seems to remain stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on, added sources.

Rahul Gandhi was the Congress president from 2017 until 2019.

When Rahul Gandhi was elected as Congress president in 2017, state units passed a similar resolution. He resigned following the party's debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

(ANI)

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