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Sonia Gandhi to remain Congress president as party workers wait for Rahul's return.

The CWC met on Sunday to discuss Congress's poor outing in the recently concluded assembly elections in five states. Addressing the media after the meeting, Congress spokesperson KC Venugopal said the CWC has expressed faith in the leadership of Sonia Gandhi.

Venugopal said the party will organise a "chintan shivir" after the Parliament session and the CWC will meet again before it to take up some "organisational changes".

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the party will fully prepare to face electoral challenges in the upcoming state assembly polls and the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

After clinching a second consecutive term in power in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has dived into brainstorming mode to finalise details of the new government in the state. Sources said that several new faces will be inducted into the cabinet, and the number of deputy chief ministers in the state will also go up.

The final call on UP government formation will be taken at a key meeting soon to be held in New Delhi. Already, chief minister designate Yogi Adityanath met with Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and BJP general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh earlier today. He is also slated for a tete-a-tete with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, party president JP Nadda and other top BJP brass shortly.

Sources told media that the BJP is aiming to strike a balance between caste and regional representation in the new cabinet. However, before this, the party parliamentary board will appoint two observers to monitor the process of government formation in Uttar Pradesh.

The Indian-American community's political coming of age crossed another milestone on Friday when President Joe Biden nominated Shefali Razdan Duggal, a Democratic party activist, and fund-raiser, as the US envoy to the Netherlands.

Duggal, an immigrant to the United States from Kashmir, India, "is an experienced political activist, women’s rights advocate, and human rights campaigner," the White House said in an announcement, citing several civic awards she has received and her service as the National Co-Chair of Women for Biden, and as a Deputy National Finance Chair at the Democratic National Committee.

The Indian-American community's political coming of age crossed another milestone on Friday when President Joe Biden nominated Shefali Razdan Duggal, a Democratic party activist, and fund-raiser, as the US envoy to the Netherlands.

Duggal, an immigrant to the United States from Kashmir, India, "is an experienced political activist, women’s rights advocate, and human rights campaigner," the White House said in an announcement, citing several civic awards she has received and her service as the National Co-Chair of Women for Biden, and as a Deputy National Finance Chair at the Democratic National Committee.

A day after the Congress suffered a morale-sapping defeat in the polls in five states, there were clear indications on Friday that the leadership of Rahul Gandhi will now be questioned and that the party is heading towards another round of debilitating internal turmoil ahead of organisational elections later this year.

While the party showed no urgency to introspect on the defeat, some of the leaders of the grouping (G23) that had written to party chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking sweeping changes in the party, met at senior leader and CWC member Ghulam Nabi Azad's residence.