Will it be a fresh start? Will it be a case of continuity? These are some of the questions Congress will ponder over as all members of the Congress Working Committee, general secretaries and in-charges resigned from their posts.
The move is to enable the new president, Mallikarjun Kharge, who took charge on Wednesday, to put his own team together with a view to adding new vigour to the party, which has seen a decline in the past few years.
According to Congress leaders, the move is nothing new and there has been a tradition of all office bearers of the Congress resigning soon after the election of the new president.
“All the CWC members, AICC general secretaries and in-charges have tendered their resignation to the Congress president,” said AICC general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal in a tweet.
The party leader said that till the resignations of all leaders are accepted, they will keep on performing their duties.
“Only if the new president decides to bring or induct some new faces, then only new appointments will be made,” the party leader said.
The new CWC, the highest decision-making body of the party, will be reconstituted by Kharge soon after the plenary session, which is likely to be held in March or April next year.
According to the party constitution, 11 members of the CWC will be nominated and 12 will be elected. Besides, the leader of the party in Parliament and the Congress president will also be members of the working committee.
However, till the time the election of Kharge is ratified, a new steering committee will be formed by the new party chief, which will function as the CWC till the plenary session.
Earlier in the day, before taking charge as the new party chief, Kharge offered floral tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat. He will also visit Shanti Vana, Vijay Ghat, Shakti Sthal, Vir Bhoomi and Samata Sthal.
After taking charge, Kharge, along with Sonia Gandhi, held an informal meeting with party leaders.
After approximately half an hour of the informal meeting, Sonia Gandhi and Kharge left the party headquarters in the same car, while Rahul Gandhi followed in another car.
In the second half of the day, Kharge, along with Sonia Gandhi and other senior leaders, participated in the Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting for the forthcoming Gujarat assembly elections.