Congress may pick Kamal Nath to head party

New Delhi: With Rahul Gandhi not ready to accept the top post of the Congress and adamant on his stand to appoint a leader from outside the Gandhi family for the party chief, speculations are very strong that Gandhi family's trusted lieutenant Kamal Nath may be picked to head the Grand Old party.

The speculations about the selection of Kamal Nath for the top role intensified after the former Madhya Pradesh CM had a closed-door meeting with party's interim chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday.

However, Nath has denied such rumours saying that talk about him becoming Congress president is rubbish. "I keep meeting Gandhi and keep discussing various issues related to the party," Kamal Nath said.

As per political experts, the meeting may not be a routine one as the meeting of Congress Working Committee (CWC) is scheduled to happen soon over giving a final shape to party's organisational structure.

After the CWC meeting, the process to elect a new party president would start and it's expected that the AICC session is likely to happen in August, the party sources said.

As per party insiders, Kamal Nath may be appointed as working president of Congress as he is not keen on the post of treasurer.

Kamal Nath, 74, is one of the senior most politicians in Congress and a trusted lieutenant of the Gandhi family. It was his 'loyalty' to the party that the high command preferred him over Jyotiraditya Scindia that led to collapsing of his government in Madhya Pradesh after Scindia switched to the BJP along with a large number of Congress MLAs.

The former Union Minister and nine-time MP has a good rapport with leaders across parties. Besides, he has close ties with members of the "G-23" in the Congress, who wrote to Sonia Gandhi last year calling for sweeping changes, including collective decision-making and "full-time, visible leadership".