Mukul Wasnik frontrunner for Congress chief

New Delhi: The Congress Party is all set to get its first non-Gandhi president since 1998 with former Union minister Mukul Wasnik emerging as the frontrunner to replace Rahul Gandhi. Mr Wasnik, however, will only be an interim chief till the party holds an AICC plenary later.

The other names doing the rounds are of Karnataka strongman Mallikarjun Kharge, former home minister Sushilkumar Shinde and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal.

The announcement of the interim chief’s name may, however, take another “three-four” days. This was indicated by Mr Gandhi at a meeting of party general secretaries, state in-charges, PCC chiefs and CLP leaders on Kashmir that was held Friday at the party’s war room at Gurudwara Rakabganj Road here.

Mr Gandhi is learnt to have invited all those present on Friday to the discussions before the CWC meeting on Saturday.

Sources told this newspaper that Mr Wasnik’s name was zeroed in at a meeting between UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party treasurer Ahmed Patel and senior leaders A.K. Antony and K.C. Venugopal late Friday afternoon. The meeting took place at Mrs Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence.

Mr Wasnik’s name is likely to get the seal of approval from the Congress Working Committee, the party’s highest decision-making body, at its meeting at 11 am on Saturday. The CWC will also formally accept the resignation of Rahul Gandhi, who quit as president taking moral responsibility for the Congress’ electoral rout in the Lok Sabha polls.

A senior Congress leader said “there was 95 per cent chance that an interim president would be annouced on Saturday as the party rank and file was not happy with the leadership vaccum and resultant confusion”.

If Mr Wasnik becomes the next Congress chief, it will be evident that the so-called old guard, led by Mr Patel, remains stronger than the younger leadership, many of whom owe their political careers to Mr Gandhi.

Mr Wasnik is a former minister for social justice and empowerment and has represented Maharashtra’s Ramtek constituency. He is also an AICC general secretary and in 1984 had become the youngest member of Parliament at the age of 25.

Sources said that before Friday afternoon’s meeting at 10 Janpath, others options like forming a collegium of leaders to run the show was also considered, to be discussed at the CWC meet. In such a scenario, young leaders like Jyotiradiya Scindia and Sachin Pilot may have been included in the team, making it a blend of the old and new leadership.

However, after a consensus emerged on the name of Mr Wasnik, the leaders decided against prolonging the leadership crisis, sources said.

Many leaders have spoken over the need to address the leadership crisis quickly with Assembly polls looming in Haryana, Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The latest was Rajya Sabha MP Abhishek “Manu” Singhvi, who said Friday that even the slightest delay in choosing a chief was not an option. “On Saturday, a consensus builder party president must be selected. The slightest delay is not an option.”