Former Union Minister Manish Tewari is also preparing to contest for the post of Congress President. Sources close to him revealed that he met representatives of the state party in his constituency, who are the voters in the election. Each candidate needs 10 Pradesh Congress Committee representatives to propose his name.
Manish Tewari is one of the vocal critics of the Congress leadership and has called for reforms in the party. The Central Election Authority of Congress on Thursday issued notification for the election of Congress President. As per the notification, nomination forms will be available from Thursday, while nominations will be filed between September 24 and September 30.
The scrutiny of nominations will take place on October 1 and the list of valid candidates will be published on the same day. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8, after which a final list will be brought out. While the voting will be held on October 17, the counting of votes will take place on October 19. According to sources, there will be a possible contest between Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor.
Ashok Gehlot had met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi for two hours, after which he left for Kerala to join Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. Sources said that Sonia Gandhi has said that the election will be fair and she will not support any candidate. Apparently the issue of Rajasthan was also discussed in the meeting, but nothing has been said on it officially. Gehlot may file nomination for the post of party president next week. However, he does not want to give up the chief minister’s chair in the state.
Demand to make Rahul Gandhi president
On the other hand, the demand for making Rahul Gandhi the Congress President continues. Congress leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Rajasthan Sachin Pilot said that Rahul Gandhi is such a person who does not run away from hard work or struggles. This is the reason why the common worker wants to see him lead from the front.
Indicating his preference for party leader Rahul Gandhi as Congress president, Pilot avoided questions on a TV channel whether Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would support him if he contested for the party’s president’s post.
He also deferred a question whether his rival Gehlot would become the chief minister of Rajasthan if he became the Congress president. It doesn’t matter who contests the elections, he said. A strong Congress will emerge at the end of the election. For that we all need to work together, only by working together we will be able to remove BJP from power. Pilot said at the moment he cannot speculate as to who will contest. This thing will be clear only by or after September 24.
Source: dainikbhaskarup.com”