Shashi Tharoor to run for Congress president post: Sources

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor is set to file his nomination for the post of party president for which elections will be held on October 17. Tharoor conveyed his decision to contest for the top party post to Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, who as per sources gave her nod.

“Anyone is free to contest the Congress presidential poll,” Sonia Gandhi told Shashi Tharoor when the MP conveyed his decision to the party’s interim chief at 10, Janpath, said sources in the Congress told India Today TV. “It's your call. Elections will be held according to the electoral process,” Sonia Gandhi told Tharoor, the sources added.

Congress, which is facing unprecedented internal tussles, announced that it would hold a poll to elect the party’s next president on October 17. The result will be declared two days later, on October 19.

Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh, speaking on the development, said, “This has been the consistent position of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. This is an open, democratic and transparent process. Nobody needs anybody's nod to contest," he said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will also file his nomination for the top post between September 26 and September 28 during Navratri, said the sources.

Rahul Gandhi, taking responsibility for the party’s second consecutive defeat in the 2019 parliamentary elections, had resigned as the Congress president in 2019.

Apart from Tharoor, Congress party leaders Jai Prakash Agarwal, Deepender Hooda and Vijendra Singh also met Sonia Gandhi at her residence for a discussion over the party’s upcoming presidential election.

Even though Tharoor isn’t a part of the Group of 23 dissident Congress leaders, he has already been sharing his ideas about bringing reforms within the party.

Moreover, Tharoor, in an article for the Malayalam daily 'Mathrubhumi', had stated that electing a new president would be the beginning of the revitalisation that the party badly needs.