New Delhi: In a much-needed reprieve to the Congress Party, the Election Commission on Monday extended the deadline to conclude its internal elections to December 31.
The Commission had earlier set the deadline till June 30, 2017.
The extension comes after the party requested the Commission for more time.
"The Election Commission has allowed our plea for extension of six months in holding organisational elections and has granted time till December this year, against its earlier deadline of June 30," PTI quoted AICC general Secretary Janardan Dwivedi as saying.
In the recent past, many senior party leaders had expressed the need for a major structural shake-up in the party to boost morale of the party cadres following repeated defeats in the elections.
The call for change has been amplified after the party's recent drubbing in the assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The change could also mean its vice-president Rahul Gandhi might be elevated to the post of party president.
He said the Congress had written to the poll body for granting more time to the party for completing the process of holding organisational polls by six more months as there was very little time left for the same.
Dwivedi also said that it was not possible to adhere to the EC deadline since it went against the resolution of the Congress Working Committee, allowing Sonia Gandhi to continue till December 31, 2017. The party had also cited problems like updating its membership list etc. as reasons for asking more time.
As per its constitution, the Congress was to hold its five-yearly internal polls in 2015, but it has since been delaying due to various reasons.
