For the first time in more than 20 years, the president of the Congress might not be a Gandhian. Shashi Tharoor, one of the party members who favours significant internal reforms, would probably compete against Ashok Gehlot, a supporter of the Gandhi family, for the position of party president.
Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor are competitors in the Congress Presidential election.
Shashi Tharoor will run for president of the Congress, it has been confirmed after days of rumours. According to sources cited by ANI, Shashi Tharoor will run for president of the Congress after Sonia Gandhi endorsed his candidacy during a meeting with her today in which he mentioned his ability to strengthen internal democracy. In addition to Shashi Tharoor, Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, is expected to file his nomination to run for the top position in the Congress on September 26.
In the next days, Shashi Tharoor is set to declare his candidacy. Sonia Gandhi welcomed more persons running for office during the conference and debunked the assumption that there would be a “official candidate.” Sonia Gandhi added that she will remain “neutral” in the race for the Congress’s presidency.
In the next days, Shashi Tharoor is set to declare his candidacy. Sonia Gandhi welcomed more persons running for office during the conference and debunked the assumption that there would be a “official candidate.” Sonia Gandhi added that she will remain “neutral” in the race for the Congress’s presidency.
While the race for Congress President is currently between Shashi Tharoor and Ashok Gehlot, more candidates are likely to be recruited over the next few days as the election gets closer.
GEHLOT CONVINCING RAGA
However, sources close to Ashok Gehlot claimed that rather than considering a presidential run for the Congress, the chief minister of Rajasthan is attempting to “persuade Rahul Gandhi to do so.” He still supports Sonia and Rahul Gandhi, they claimed.
Regarding Shashi Tharoor’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi and the conjecture around it, the Congress stated that as the presidential election is an open, democratic, and transparent process, no one needs a nod to run for office.
Everyone is free and encouraged to run for the position of Congress President. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have maintained this stance over time. This procedure is open, democratic, and transparent. Jairam Ramesh told ANI that no one’s approval is necessary to run for office.
“Anybody who wants to contest [for the post of Congress President] is free and welcome to do so. This has been the consistent position of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. This is an open, democratic and transparent process. Nobody needs anybody’s nod to contest,” Jairam Ramesh told ANI.
Nominations for the election must be submitted between September 24 and September 30. The deadline for withdrawing nominations is October 8 and, if necessary, the election will take place on October 17. On October 19, the outcomes will be released.
Here is a 10-point summary of this significant event:
- Former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor was the first to announce his intention to run for a position that has largely been held by the Gandhi family for 25 years, either by Sonia Gandhi or her son Rahul. He is a well-known member of the G-23, a group of 23 leaders in the Congress who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 to demand organisational reform and lay the blame for the party’s decline on a leadership drift.
- On Monday afternoon, Mr. Tharoor met with Sonia Gandhi, who had just returned from a medical checkup abroad, and secured her approval to run in the election on October 17.
- After only a few hours, Ashok Gehlot emerged as the other contender, making the race for the top position in the Congress much tougher. Up until recently, the chief minister of Rajasthan, a devoted supporter of the Gandhi family, had been pushing for Rahul Gandhi to take over as party leader. He is likely to gain support from those advocating for maintaining the status quo and Rahul Gandhi’s reinstatement as prime minister.
- “Everyone is invited and free to participate in the competition. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party have consistently held this position. This procedure is transparent, democratic, and open. No one needs approval from anyone to compete, “said Jairam Ramesh, a Congress MP and the party’s communications general secretary.
- In three days, nominations for the presidency will be accepted. The exits of several significant leaders over the previous year will form a backdrop for the election. Senior leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was the last to go, and the majority of party leaders in Jammu and Kashmir followed suit.
- Since Rahul Gandhi resigned from the position in 2019, taking responsibility for the party’s second straight loss in general elections, Sonia Gandhi, who served as the Congress President for 19 years before handing over leadership to her son, has served as the interim leader of the party. It failed to stop the crisis. Since then, the party has suffered a string of defeats in state elections, leading to calls for a radical leadership change.
- Despite persistent demands from a number of Congress officials, including Mr. Gehlot, Mr. Gandhi, who is currently leading the party’s “Bharat Jodo” yatra, has steadfastly refused to run for president again. Some of the party defectors have complained that Mr. Gandhi is the unofficial decision-maker and that a clique of people around him are making the decisions.
- As the results of the elections were announced, Congress organisations in numerous states asked Mr. Gandhi to run for president again. As the election draws nearer, more similar demands are probably going to be submitted. Many party members saw this as an effort to install the Gandhis in power, whether or not there is a vote, and the yatra as another effort to relaunch Rahul Gandhi.
- Opposition parties like the Trinamool Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party, which have been vying for prominent positions in both states and the ranks of the opposition, benefited from the unchecked slide of the Congress. The Congress was “finished” in Gujarat, where elections are soon, according to Mr. Kejriwal’s declaration from last week.
- Sitaram Kesari was the last non-Gandhi Congress President; Sonia Gandhi succeeded him in March 1998, about two years after the Narasimha Rao administration was overthrown. After Rajiv Gandhi’s murder, Mrs. Gandhi vowed to stay out of politics, but when the Congress was in a bad place, she made the announcement that she would join the party.
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