The demand for Rahul Gandhi to don the mantle of party chief once again is making a strong comeback with party leaders like Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot stating that many workers including him are “unanimously" in favour of the Gandhi scion for the post which he relinquished at the backdrop of the party's poor performance in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
Party sources said the detailed schedule for the election of the Congress president will be out soon and the whole process in all likelihood will be completed around the given timeframe of September 20 without any "major postponement".
However, uncertainty looms large with several party insiders saying Rahul has not changed his stance of not becoming the AICC president.
There have been several calls by leaders publicly exhorting Rahul to become party chief again but he has chosen not to.
"If Rahul does not become the party president, it will be a disappointment for the Congress workers in the country. Many people will sit at home and we will suffer. He (Rahul Gandhi) should accept this post by himself, understanding the sentiments of the common Congress people in the country," Gehlot had told reporters in Jaipur.
The chief minister said that within the party, there is an opinion in favour of making Rahul the new president.
"The unanimous opinion is in support of his becoming the president. So, I think he should accept it. It is not about Gandhi or non-Gandhi family. It is the work of the organisation and no one is becoming a prime minister," he had said.
The party's election authority has said it will stick to the schedule of electing a new chief by September 20. Chairman of the party's Central Election Authority Madhusudan Mistry had said it was up to the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to approve the final date for the election of the Congress chief but "from our side, we are ready".
"The detailed schedule for the election of the Congress president will be out soon and the whole process in all likelihood will be completed around the given time-frame of September 20 without any major postponement," a top source said.
After a crucial meeting of its working committee, the Congress had announced in October last year that the election of the new Congress president will be held between August 21 and September 20 this year.
Rahul Gandhi had resigned as Congress president after the party suffered its second consecutive defeat in parliamentary elections in 2019. Sonia Gandhi who took over the reins of the party again as interim president had also offered to quit in August 2020 after an open revolt by a section of leaders, referred to as G-23, but the CWC had urged her to continue.