NEW DELHI, May 29 - With Congress president Rahul Gandhi adamant that he will not withdraw his resignation, he remains, in parallel, furious with the old guard � Ashok Gehlot, Kamal Nath and P Chidambaram (Gehlot�s son Vaibhav lost, while Kamal Nath�s son Nakul and Chidambaram�s son Karti won) � who were busy pushing their children in the recently-concluded hustings and �not working for the party per se�.
However, better counsel is now prevailing where he has accepted that he will lead the Congress party in the Lok Sabha where its strength, from a paltry 44, has gone up to 52, an increase of a mere eight MPs. Sonia Gandhi will remain UPA chairperson and the family/dynasty will distance itself from day-to-day affairs of the party.
An interim working president with two or more working vice presidents in a loosely-formed presidium will run the party operations and plan for elections and campaigns.
KC Venugopal may emerge as interim president while Prithviraj Chauhan could be one of the vice presidents.
Given that the Congress has 23 MPs from the south, it appears that a south Indian will helm the party for the time being. Or alternatively, cut the umbilical cord with the past and appoint Jyotiraditya Scindia as the working president and have the youth brigade around him to turn the party�s fortunes around.
The recent rout that has seen the Congress draw a blank in 16 states, two Union Territories and as many as eight Chief Ministers and the leader of the party in the Lok Sabha losing is its darkest chapter yet. � IANS
