Congress presidential polls: Shashi Tharoor to file nomination on September 30
The upcoming polls would certainly be historic as the new president would replace Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving party president who has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over.
FollowSenior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will on September 30 file nomination for the post of party President. The Congress is set to see a contest for the post of party chief with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who has announced his candidature, expected to take on Tharoor who has also made his intentions clear by getting the nomination forms collected on Saturday.
The Congress MP is approaching delegates from various states and have taken five sets of nomination papers for which he will need 50 delegates as proposers for his candidature.
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Meanwhile, Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are deciding not to be in the running for the party president's post, a non-Gandhi would be at the helm after over 24 years.
The Congress has asserted that its internal democracy has no parallel in any other party and it is the only one to have a central election authority for organisational polls.
The upcoming polls would certainly be historic as the new president would replace Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving party president who has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over.
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Also, the party will have its first non-Gandhi president after over 24 years.
After Independence, the party has been led by 16 people so far, of which five have been presidents from the Gandhi family.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will hold a meeting with Congress Legislature Party at his residence at 7 pm today. This development comes amid the leadership change buzz following the announcement that he will contest the party president poll.
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Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed Mallikarjun Kharge as an observer along with general secretary in-charge Rajasthan Ajay Maken.
AICC general secretary organisation KC Venugopal said that they will attend the meeting of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) of the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.
