NEW DELHI: Ahead of major organisational changes in the Congress party in Gujarat, party leader Rahul Gandhi Friday held discussion on leadership issues with a group of leaders from the state and a decision on the matter is likely soon.
Sources said the party is likely to pick a senior party leader to lead the Congress in the state where the elections are due by the end of 2022. During the meeting, Rahul asked them to prepare for the elections and sought views on a consensus candidate to be named as Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee chief.
The meeting was attended by 15 state leaders, including working president Hardik Patel, four former state chiefs — Bharatsinh Solanki, Arjun Modhwadia, Siddharth Patel and Amit Chavda — among others. AICC general secretary organisation KC Venugopal and AICC in-charge for Gujarat Raghu Sharma were also present at the meeting.
The discussions were held on the appointment of the president of Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) and Leader of Opposition (LOP) ahead of the 2022 assembly elections. Both the posts have been lying vacant since March this year since Amit Chavda and Paresh Dhanani submitted their resignations following the party’s poor performance in the local body polls.
Sharma will discuss names of consensus candidates for the post with party leaders and would send for final approval of the party high command. Sources said that Rahul Gandhi could visit Gujarat next month to enthuse the party workers while planning is on for a ‘Chintan Shivir’.