Congress to decide new president today, Mukul Wasnik leads race: Reports

Afters months of uncertainity, the Congress is likely to decide its new president during a meeting of party's top decision-making body on Saturday. According to reports, senior leader and All India Congress Committee general secretary Mukul Wasnik is the frontrunner for the Congress chief's post, relinquished by Rahul Gandhi following the party's subdued performance in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. 

If Wasnik becomes the new Congress chief, it would be the first time in two decades that a non-Gandhi will lead the Grand Old Party. When Rahul Gandhi was asked about his opinion that who should be the new president, he too had said that a non-Gandhi should be givne the job. This was the reason Priyanka Gandhi, sister of Rahul Gandhi, also rejected the offer to lead the Grand Old Party.

The Congress is visisbly devided on the issue of new Congress chief. While some leaders are of the view that the new president should be from Gandhi fmaily, others batted for a new and younger face. 

Milind Deora, who last month resigned as the Mumbai Congress president, said the new party chief should be young and capable and possess electoral, administrative and organisational experience with a pan India appeal, as suggested by Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. Deora also suggested the names of Sachin Pilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Who is Mukul Wasnik - frontrunner for the post of Congress President? 

Wasnik, 59, is the general secretary of the All India Congress Committee. He is the son of veteran Congress Leader and three time MP Balkrishna Wasnik. Born as Mukul Balkrishna Wasnik, the Congress leader also served as the former minister for social justice and empowerment in the Manmohan Singh government.

In 1984, Wasnik became the youngest Member of Parliament at age of 25. He represented Buldhana Lok Sabha constituency in Maharashtra from 1984 to 1999. In 2009, he was moved to Maharashtra's Ramtek and became the minister for social justice and empowerment.

A wild life photographer at heart, Wasnik had started his political career as a youth Congress member. He was the national president of Congress'student wing - National Students Union of India (NSUI) between 1984 and 1986. He also headed the Indian Youth Congress from 1988 to 1990.