Congress may postpone internal elections

New Delhi: The Congress has decided to defer its internal organisational election in the poll bound states of Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, and Mizoram.

A delegation of leaders from the said states had met Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi, requesting that the internal elections in the party organisation be deferred. The members of the internal election authority of Congress were also present in the meeting. Their reasoning was that the party cadres in these states are already involved in the process of Assembly elections, which are slated at the end of this year. If the organisational elections are held before that, it could create problems.

In the internal elections, there is a chance of internal rivalry between the different factions. This could hamper the prospects of candidates who will eventually contest the Assembly elections.

The Congress is required to complete its internal elections by the end of this year as per the order of the Election Commission of India (ECI).

The party has already released a timetable for internal elections at different levels to its organisation. The elections in different states start from July this year. The election for the post of president of Congress is expected to be held sometime between September 15 and October 15. After this, a new Congress working committee will be constituted. Many leaders have started filling in the nomination forms to be elected as member of the AICC (All India Congress Committee). The entire internal election process of Congress will be completed by December 31 this year.