CWC Meet: Sonia Gandhi to Continue as Congress President

New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will continue as a party president, sources in the Congress party said.

"Sonia ji given year's extension as Congress President," he said.

Earlier today, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi for the first time chaired the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting as party president Sonia Gandhi skipped the session reportedly due to poor health conditions.

During the meeting, Rahul criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for being obsessed with power and for silencing voices of dissent.

He also criticized the Modi government for its decision to blackout two news television channels for 24-hours.

“Democracy is going through its darkest hour. The Modi government is favouring selective corporate houses. With state elections around the corner, we can expect the government to launch a campaign of polarization," he reportedly said in the meet.

He also discussed organisational polls and strategy for the upcoming winter session of Parliament besides party's preparations for the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

Dalit issues and farmers suicide were also raised in the meeting.

This is the first time that Rahul has presided over the meeting which is being attended by Congress top brass.

46-year-old Rahul was appointed Congress Vice President in January 2013 at Jaipur 'Chintan Shivir'.

Senior party leaders Manmohan Singh, P Chidambaram, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Janardan Dwivedi, Ahmed Patel, Ambika Soni and AK Antony are among those attended the meet and decided on the possible deferring of organisational election to next year.

The CWC meeting comes at a time when a section of party men feels that Congress President Sonia Gandhi, 69, should hand over the mantle to her son as she is suffering from ill health, especially after her roadshow in PM Narendra Modi's constituency of Varanasi on August 2 when she was hospitalised.

(With PTI inputs)