Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, son Rahul and daughter Priyanka will not attend a key meeting to be held in Chhattisgarh's Raipur Friday that will discuss elections to the party's top body, the Working Committee, sources told NDTV.
According to sources, the Gandhis want to give a free hand to the new Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and not influence the decisions in any way. They will, however, attend the rest of the conclave that hopes to brainstorm for the 2024 national elections.
After back-to-back election defeats, years of internal wrangling for an overhaul and an exodus of leaders, Sonia Gandhi passed on the reins of the 137-year-old outfit to loyalist Mallikarjun Kharge in October. Considered the first family of the party, the Gandhis maintain a firm hold on it.
The gathering in Raipur will be the Congress's 85th plenary session. The party is expected to take key decisions during the three-day session that would lay out a roadmap for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and finalise the strategy for forging poll tie-ups with other opposition parties to take on the BJP.
At the steering committee meeting, which the Gandhis will skip, Congress leaders are expected to endorse the leadership of Mallikarjun Kharge and pave the way for a new working committee led by him.
Around 15,000 delegates will attend the session that comes in the wake of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, a massive cross-country foot march led by Rahul Gandhi that aimed to rally supporters and address the party's disconnect with the voters.
