After nearly two and a half decades, the Congress president will be elected from outside the Gandhi family through voting. And that election process started on Saturday. On the one hand, Congress president candidate Mallikarjun Kharge, who was chosen by the Gandhi family, resigned from the post of Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha yesterday following the Congress’s ‘one person one post’ policy. Besides, Congress has released the final candidate list for the presidential election. A total of three Congress leaders filed their nomination papers.
Apart from Kharge and Shashi Tharoor, they included former Jharkhand minister KN Tripathi. But Tripathi’s nomination was rejected. As a result, the final fight is now between Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge. Madhusudan Mistry, the leader in charge of the Congress presidential election, said that due to the issue of non-matching of signatures, Tripathi’s nomination was canceled. At the same time, he said, candidates can withdraw their nominations till October 8.
Support for Tharoor
The supporters raised slogans of ‘Congress Ka Kohinoor’ while submitting the nomination papers of Tharoor On the 30th. The day before yesterday, Tharoor started his campaign from Dikshabhumi Swaranstambha in Nagpur. On Sunday he visited Mahatma Gandhi’s Sevagram Ashram in Wardha. Tharoor told the day before yesterday that he talked with Kharge. There is no rivalry between the two, they are teammates. Tharoor also referred to Kharge as ‘Father Bhishma’ of the Congress party!
He told the news agency on Saturday that he is contesting for the post of Congress President by accepting the proposal of the party workers and not any leader. He aims to be the voice of change within the party.
Rumbling about the leader of the opposition
On the other hand, rumblings have started within the Congress as to who will be the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha after Kharge’s resignation. It has been decided for now that the Congress top leadership will decide on the matter after the presidential election is over. According to sources, the former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh Digvijay Singh is currently leading the race. Even when he entered the fray for the post of Congress president, he stood aside after seeing Kharge.
As a result, keeping this ‘positive behavior’ of his in the Congress leadership, he can be chosen as the leader of the Rajya Sabha. According to one Congress leader, “Taking a leader from the Hindi circle may benefit the party for the sake of balance.”
On the other hand, a section of the political camp believes that Ashok Gehlot, who has gone to the dislike list of the Congress leadership, is trying to remain somewhat politically relevant to retain the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan. On a recent date, he fired a cannon against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Talking about Modi’s prostration at the Abu Road public meeting on Friday, Gehlot said on the 1st, “Prime Minister Modi is trying to prove that he is humbler than me.”