Congress veteran and former external affairs minister Natwar Singh on Sunday said the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting was just a formality as Sonia Gandhi has been the full-time boss of the party for 21 years.
Speaking to ANI, Singh said, "CWC meeting was just a formality as Sonia Gandhi has been the full-time boss of the party for 21 years. The next election of the party president will be held on September 2022. There was no vacancy for the party president. Sonia Gandhi is the all-time boss of the Congress party. She holds all the reins in the party for 21 years."
The Congress veteran said there was no concrete outcome of the CWC meeting held on Saturday.
"There is no concrete outcome from the CWC meeting. G23 members, who made a lot of noise before the meeting, were quiet during the meeting," Singh pointed out.
Asked whether the Congress party has called a CWC meeting before the upcoming assembly elections in several states next year to unite the leaders in the party, Singh responded, "Congress party should work together otherwise it will lag behind the BJP in politics and if this continues, it will be left behind."
Natwar Singh said the way the party is performing on the ground in past elections, it will not win in more than one state out of five in assembly polls.
"I do not think the Congress party would register its victory in more than one state because it does not have an organisation....but it is also true that there is no other party other than Congress which can play the role of opposition," he added.
Congress Working Committee meeting concluded on Saturday. The CWC meeting is the highest body in the Congress party which decides the presidential elections and many other issues.
Taking a veiled dig at the group of 23 (G-23) leaders, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that there is no need to speak to her through the media adding that she appreciates frankness.
"I have always appreciated frankness. There is no need to speak to me through the media. So let us all have a free and honest discussion. But what should get communicated outside the four walls of this room is the collective decision of the Congress Working Committee (CWC)," she said at the CWC meeting chaired by her at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi.
A delegation of 23 members (G-23) of Congress in August last year wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi demanding a slew of organisational reforms. Ahead of the meeting, the G-23 leaders demanded elections for CWC members, Central Election Committee (CEC) members, and Parliamentary Board Elections.
Earlier, senior party leader Kapil Sibal, who is a member of the G-23, had said that the party leaders are unaware of who is making the decisions in the party as there is no president.
Sonia Gandhi was made interim president by CWC after Rahul Gandhi stepped down as the president of AICC accepting the responsibility of poll debacle in the 2019 general elections.
( With inputs from ANI )
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