Sonia Gandhi offered Congress chief post to Ashok Gehlot ? Rajasthan CM responds amid buzz over party chief

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Wednesday denied media claims that Sonia Gandhi had offered him the post of Congress chief amid buzz over party chief.

Denying rumours about the party chief post, Gehlot told the reporters in Gujarat that he has been fulfilling duties that have been assigned to him. He just heard this from the media and doesn’t know about this, Rajasthan CM said.

Yesterday, the buzz about Gehlot leading the Grand Old Party had once gained steam ahead of the Congress’ August 28 meeting to finalise and release the schedule for the long-awaited polls to the party’s president post.

Earlier on Tuesday, there were rumours that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has taken a decision about the party’s next president. Some media sources had also predicted the new Congress President may be from a non-Gandhi family.

At the same time, Gehlot’s name for Congress has emerged as the top choice of party president Sonia Gandhi after a report in The Hindu claimed Sonia Gandhi, before flying abroad for a medical check-up, spoke with Gehlot in a closed-door meeting and asked him to take over.

Congress, which is already running a few days late to start its internal election, is going to get a new president soon. The election process for the party president will begin on August 21 and will end by September 20. In September, it will be decided who will be the Congress president.

Some senior Congress leaders have been demanding a president outside the Gandhi family. Though Rahul Gandhi has said no to resuming the party mantle, a few leaders are trying to vest the leadership back upon him. While Sonia Gandhi has already said she can’t continue in the role because of her poor health.