As the official candidate, Kharge, a Dalit face from Karnataka and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, is set to become the first non-Gandhi Congress president since 1998—the year Sonia took over the top post before handing it over to Sitaram Kesari. . To Rahul Gandhi In December 2017, who resigned in the wake of the 2019 Lok Sabha debacle. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8, which will decide whether the contest will be held on October 17 or not.
Kharge, Tharoor file papers, it is clear who has party support
The original choice of leadership, after Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot scrambled to find a replacement option for the party president’s post from a thin slate of candidates for the post of party president, made by “loyal” legislators of the legislative party meeting in Rajasthan Ejected on Thursday over the dispute. Jaipur.
After a flurry of meetings and discussions, Mallikarjun Kharge was given a voice late Thursday night, reports TOI. Later, AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal met him to prepare his papers for the nomination formalities.
Although Sonia Gandhi conveyed to all that the project of son Rahul handing over the reins of the party to a non-Gandhi would be neutral in the “first family”, and that there was no hiding the fact that no family member was present during Kharge’s nomination. That the seasoned politician made the official impression to succeed the matriarch.
The contradiction was evident during the nomination process. Kharge, whose first and third proponents on the form were veteran Gandhi family loyalists AK Antony and Ambika Soni respectively, accompanied Gehlot, Digvijay Singh And a hall full of AICC office-bearers, MPs and state leaders, with cross-faction support of disgruntled G23 members such as Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda and Prithviraj Chavan. When he handed over the papers to AICC election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry, the picture was of celebration and unity. Digvijay, who made public his intention to contest the election, visited Kharge in the morning and announced that he was bowing in the honor of “my senior”.
In contrast, Tharoor was smiling, surrounded by unknown proponents. He filed five sets of papers. Another contestant from Jharkhand KN Tripathi also submitted his nomination form.
Kharge, in his brief remarks to reporters after the nomination, underlined the opposite. “I was encouraged by all the leaders, party workers and representatives of major states to contest the elections. I thank those who were present by my side at the time of filing (of the nomination papers),” he said.
“I have always been fighting this battle and I look forward to fighting more to uphold the ideals of the Congress party with which I have been associated since childhood,” he said.
Calling Kharge the “Bhishma Pitamah” of the party, Tharoor termed the veteran a “candi of continuity” and projected himself as a candidate for change. “It’s a friendly match. No disrespect to them, but I will represent my views,” he said.
Irrespective of the Dalit situation and dire optics, knowledgeable Tharoor started a hashtag “Think Tomorrow Think Tharoor” campaign online, as well as presented a “vision paper”, in which he said he would campaign to all state units for support. Will send for Before filing his nomination papers, Tharoor paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat.
watch Congress President Election: Battle Of Cards In Mallikarjun Kharge Vs Shashi Tharoor