PC Chacko asks Sonia Gandhi to ‘relieve’ him of duties

New Delhi, Aug 29: In yet another jolt to the Congress just six months before assembly elections in the Capital, party's Delhi unit in-charge PC Chacko has asked the top brass to relieve him of his duties.

The move comes just two days after Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi met AICC in-charge of Delhi P C Chacko and district presidents to discuss the selection of a new chief for the party's city unit.

The Delhi Congress president post has been lying vacant after the demise of Sheila Dikshit last month.

According to the reports, Haroon Yusuf, Rajesh Lilothia and Devendra Yadav are among the frontrunners for the post.

Reports also suggested Navjot Singh Sidhu and Shatrughan Sinha among the probable candidates. However, Chacko rejected such claims saying, "Such reports are mere conjectures. The next Delhi Congress president will be from Delhi."

The Congress is endeavouring to select a suitable president to head the party in the national capital where assembly polls are slated early next year.

Earlier this month, Gandhi met Delhi Congress leaders, after taking over charge of interim president of the party.

Delhi Congress leaders said it will be a "difficult" exercise to find a replacement of Dikshit, who despite her age had led the Congress in the Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress managed to push AAP to third place on five of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies, besides getting more votes than the ruling party in Delhi.

Dikshit, a three-time Delhi chief minister and senior Congress leader, passed away on July 20.

She was the Delhi Congress president.