New Delhi, Nation Now

Sonia Gandhi is expected to resign as interim Congress president as the party’s main decision-making body meets in a short while from now in the shadow of a letter written by 23 top leaders complaining about a drift in the party and calling for “a full-time, visible leadership”. The letter, demanding “collective decision-making”, calls into question the leadership of the Gandhis, who have led the Congress for much of its 134-year history. Sonia Gandhi, 73, will either resign immediately or give the party a deadline to find a new chief, sources said on the meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC). Sources say Rahul Gandhi is also firm on not returning as Congress chief, a post he quit after the party’s second straight national election defeat last year.

Sonia Gandhi has told her aides that she does not want to continue as president, which was an interim arrangement after her son Rahul quit last year. She has asked the party to look for a non-Gandhi chief, say sources.

(NDTV feed)