AIPC urges party leadership to appoint interim president followed by internal elections

All India Professionals Congress (AIPC) on Sunday urged the party leadership to urgently appoint interim party president followed by internal elections to the senior leadership positions in the party.

"AIPC leaders urged the senior leadership of the Congress and particularly the Congress Working Committee to urgently follow the wishes of the Congress President," AIPC chairman Shashi Tharoor told reporters here after the meeting held on the occasion of organisation's second anniversary.

"The urgent appointment of the interim president followed by internal elections to the senior leadership positions in the party will strengthen the credibility and legitimacy of the Congress nationwide. Voters who stood by the Congress deserve nothing less," he said.

Tharoor's statement comes in the back of Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting scheduled to be held on August 10.

The Congress party is going through a leadership crisis after Rahul offered to step down from the post of party president at the CWC meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the party's drubbing in the 17th Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking on Rahul Gandhi, Tharoor said: "Rahul said he believes in the culture of accountability. I think this is relevant to everyone. This principle is not for just one person only."

He said that members discussed strategies for the upcoming elections at the meeting of AIPC, which was launched by Rahul Gandhi in 2017. "Suggestions were made with regard to the ways in which Congress can mount a comeback in the upcoming Assembly elections and at the national level," the Congress leader said.

"AIPC calls on all leaders and party workers in the Congress party to set aside any disappointment about the result of 2019 election and look to the future with hope and determination," he said.