Shashi Tharoor will run for the position of next Congress President, according to sources close to the party, despite growing calls for Rahul Gandhi to be promoted to the top position, according to news agency ANI. Sonia Gandhi approved of his candidacy after he reached out to her in a meeting on Monday.
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. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi backed Shashi Tharoor’s candidacy because she believes he can strengthen internal democracy.
With less than a month until the eagerly anticipated election for Congress president, the party is increasingly calling for Rahul Gandhi to be promoted to the top position, with more than a dozen state units doing so as the uncertainty and suspense over his decision to assume the role persisted.
Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir, and Mumbai units of the Congress passed resolutions on Monday urging Gandhi to be elevated to the position of president after Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, and Gujarat units urged that he be made party chief.
The election for Congress president will go to the polls on October 17, and the results will be made public on October 19. The list of delegates that make up the electoral college for the party president election will be made public by the Congress party today.
Expressing concern five MPs had written to Mistry about the ‘transparency and fairness of the party chief’s election, and had sought that the list of PCC delegates that make up the electoral college be provided to all electors and potential candidates’.
Source: News 18
