Congress Presidential Election News: Gehlot vs Tharoor Likely as Nomination Begins Today; Pilot Meets Raj Speaker, MLAs

Image: PTI

The filing of nomination for Congress presidential elections, which is likely to see a contest between Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and party leader Shashi Tharoor, is scheduled to start from Saturday.

The nominations will be filed between 24 September and 30 September, while the voting will be held on 17 October. The results for the new Congress chief will be declared on 19 October.

The grand old party will see a non-Gandhi chief after 25 years with Sitaram Kesri being the last in 1997 when he defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot. Sonia Gandhi replaced Kesri as party chief in 1998 and remains the longest-serving party president.

Gehlot Announces Pol Bid

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot became the first person to announce his candidature for the AICC presidential poll on Friday and said Rahul Gandhi has told him that no one from the Gandhi family should become the next party chief.

He also said the call on his successor to head the Rajasthan government will be taken by the party’s interim president, Sonia Gandhi, and the Congress’s Rajasthan in-charge, Ajay Maken.

Gehlot’s remarks came a day after former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi batted for the “one-man, one-post" concept in the party, in line with the Chintan Shivir reforms earlier this year. With Shashi Tharoor likely to be the second contender and the names of several others also doing the rounds for joining the fray, Gehlot said the aim should be that all Congress members work together after the poll to strengthen the party.

“I will fix the date (to submit the nomination papers) after going back (to Rajasthan), but I have decided that I will have to contest. It is a question of democracy and let us make a new start," Gehlot said.

Pilot Meets Speaker Joshi

Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday met Rajasthan Assembly Speaker CP Joshi amid speculations of change of guard in the state as Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot cleared that he will be running for the post of the Congress’ national president. Pilot met Joshi in his chamber in the state Assembly, where several party MLAs were also present.

According to party sources, Pilot is the main contender for the chief minister’s post, but Speaker Joshi’s name is also doing the rounds. Joshi is a former state Congress president and was a contender for the post in 2008 but lost the Assembly elections by one vote at that time. Earlier in the day, both Gehlot and Pilot reached Jaipur after meeting the party high command.

However, none of the leaders commented on the latest developments. Gehlot, who was out of the state capital for three days, returned to Jaipur Friday evening with Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra. He went straight from the airport to the chief minister’s residence. Gehlot had gone to Delhi on Wednesday. From there, he went to Kochi and met Rahul Gandhi. He was in Maharashtra on Friday and visited the Shirdi’s Sai Baba temple.

Raj Minister says Pilot Next CM

Rajasthan minister Rajendra Gudha claimed that Congress leader Sachin Pilot will become the next chief minister soon. Gudha claimed that all the MLAs support Sachin Pilot.

He also said claimed that Independent MLAs who were in favour of Ashok Gehlot will support Sachin Pilot. This statement comes as senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated the party’s “one-man, one-post" concept in lines with the Chintan Shivir reforms.