Rahul should 'rethink' about his decision to be Congress chief: Baghel

The chorus for making Rahul Gandhi Congress president again grew louder as Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan passed resolutions to support him to take on the mantle of party chief.

Congress Committees of both the states passed the resolution for making Rahul Gandhi the party president, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday said the Wayanad MP should "rethink" about his decision on this matter.

"Chhattisgarh Congress Committee and Rajasthan Cong Committee have made this proposal. It has been done in two states but if this proposal comes from other states too, then Rahul ji should rethink this matter," said Baghel on appointing Rahul Gandhi as party president.

Chhattisgarh Congress has unanimously passed a resolution that Rahul Gandhi should take over as party president again.

The Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee held an important meeting. The agenda of the meeting is an organizational election in the state unit.

The meeting was attended by Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, party state in-charge PL Punia and other leaders of the state.

Notably, the Congress Committee of Rajasthan has also passed a resolution to make Congress leader Rahul Gandhi party president.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot presented a proposal in the meeting which stated that the Congress president should select the state president of RPCC and AICC delegates.

Congress Working Committee member Raghuveer Meena approved the said proposal, which was also backed by State President Govind Singh Dotsara.

Earlier while addressing the media during Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, the Wayanad MP had said, "Whether I become president of Congress or not will become clear when the elections for the president post take place. But, I have clearly decided what I will do and there is no confusion in my mind."

The notification for the Congress president's election will be out on September 22. Nominations for the post of Congress president can be filed from September 24 to September 30. The last day of filing the nomination is September 30, 2022, and the last date of withdrawal of nominations is October 8.

Congress Working Committee (CWC) had decided that the election for the Congress president post will be held on October 17, said sources.

The counting of votes will be done on October 19.

This comes in the backdrop of the party's senior leader Gulam Nabi Azad's resignation on Friday.

According to sources, the election for the post of president has now become a challenge for Congress with the reluctance of Rahul Gandhi to contest the polls.

The Central Election Authority has made preparations to complete the election process on time.

The process seems to remain stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on, added sources.

Rahul Gandhi was the Congress president from 2017 until 2019.

When Rahul Gandhi was elected as Congress president in 2017, state units passed a similar resolution. He resigned following the party's debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.