The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the top decision-making body of the Congress, will meet on October 16 to hold a discussion on the election of the new party president, “current political situation”, upcoming Assembly polls, the party said this afternoon.

“A meeting of the Congress Working Committee will be held on Saturday, October 16, at 10 am,” at the party headquarters in Delhi, a statement read.

The decision comes days after senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, one of the members of the G-23 or group of 23 party dissidents who wrote to Congress president Sonia Gandhi last year seeking organisational reforms, recently wrote a fresh letter to her, asking her to convene an urgent meeting of CWC.

Congress faces political crisis

The Congress party has been struggling with the leadership crisis since Rahul Gandhi’s resignation as party chief in July 2019. It’s been more than two years since Gandhi’s shocking move, the party is yet to get a full-time president.

With elections in key states around the corner, a continuous wave of internal fissures has also hit the state units of the Congress, pushing the party into a deep political crisis just months ahead of Assembly polls.

Senior party leader Kapil Sibal, who is also among the G-23 leaders, recently reignited the leadership debate in the party.

“In our party, there is no president so we don’t know who is taking these decisions. We know and yet we don’t know,” the senior Congress leader had said.

“We are not “Jee Huzoor 23”. It is very clear. We will keep talking. We will continue to reiterate our demands,” he added.

There are only six states that are under Congress’ rule, including Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. Of these, only three states – Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – have chief ministers from Congress.