Congress President election: Shashi Tharoor to run for top post?
Shashi Tharoor suggested adopting the United Kingdom model where the recent leadership race in the British Conservative Party has sparked global interest. A similar race in 2019 had seen Boris Johnson emerge on top among a dozen candidates who were contesting to replace Theresa May.
FollowIs senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor mulling over the possibility of running for the post of party president? Yes, if sources close to him are to be believed. They further claimed that the Thiruvananthapuram MP could take a final call on the matter soon.
Even as he refused to confirm the move, Tharoor wrote an article for a Malayalam daily seeking a "free and fair" election. In the article, he said that ideally, the party should have also announced elections for the dozen seats on the Congress Working Committee itself, which are supposed to be elected.
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Tharoor, who was among the group of 23 leaders who wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking organisational reforms, said that the incoming set of leaders would have been legitimised if members of the party drawn from the AICC and PCC delegates were allowed to determine who will lead the party from these key positions.
Asserting that this would have given the incoming set of leaders a credible mandate to lead the party, the Thiruvananthapuram MP highlighted that electing a new president is a step towards 'revitalisation', something that the Congress badly needs.
Tharoor suggested adopting the United Kingdom model where the recent leadership race in the British Conservative Party has sparked global interest. A similar race in 2019 had seen Boris Johnson emerge on top among a dozen candidates who were contesting to replace Theresa May.
Drawing parallels, Tharoor said that if the Congress party replicates the scenario, it could increase the national interest in the party and galvanise more voters in favour of the party.
To note, the Congress will be holding the election for its new president on October 17. The result will be declared on October 19. The election notification will be issued on September 22, while the nomination filing process will begin on September 24 and go on till September 30.
Briefing media persons, AICC general secretary-organisation K C Venugopal had said that anybody would be able to contest in the open election.
Tharoor, too, hoped that several candidates come forward to contest and put forward their visions for the party. He further said that given the prevailing situation within the party and its perception among people, the new party president has the dual task of inspiring voters and energising the Congress party workers.
While stating that a free and fair election process would be a healthy way to go about fixing the issue, Tharoor said that the new party president must have a plan to fix what ails the party, as well as a vision for India.Â
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With PTI inputs
