The Cong Contest on: 10 facts on the Tharoor Vs Gehlot presidential poll

The BJP allegation of Dynastism in Congress is apparently going to call it a day. Now the historical party will be having a party president outside the clan, if so happens. And that will end decades of waiting for the arrival of someone to preside the party from outside of the ‘Gandhi’ family.

Two stalwarts from Congress are supposedly going to contest for the top post of the party. As per the sources, seemingly it is going to be a Shashi Tharoor vs Ashok Gehlot contest.

Next month in October party is going to a have new face of the top party post. The filling formality for the presidential election is to begin in the next three days.

Let us behold ten major points being the center figure about the contest :

1. The ex-Union Minister from Congress has already clarified his intention to run for the top post. Apart from the intention Tharoor is also among one of the G-23 members.  As the  a prominent member of the group he was the one who had drafted a letter to Soniya Gandhi with his 23 supporting leaders for an  organizational overhaul.

2. Sonia Gandhi the de fecto Congress president has just returned from a foreign trip for her health checkup. Mr Tharoor met her and gotten her nod about his aspiration for contesting the party election.

3. After getting the go ahead from Sonia Gandhi, Tharoor’s presence within hours made the contest for the Congress top post got tougher where Ashok Gehlot emerging as the other presidential candidate can feel uncomfortable.

4. Ashok Gehlot is one of the staunch Gandhi family loyalist has been trying to push Rahul Gandhi’s name as party chief. When asked by the top ladder to come forward for the top post, he presented his candidature in the party election.

5. Congress party had overtly announced that everyone in the party is free to contest the party polls. Rahul Gandhi has made it clear to the party workers. Now as an open, democratic and transparent process the Gehlot-Tharoor contest is about to begin formally.

6. The nomination filing will begin in three days which will be followed by the election on October 17, 2022. The polls will take place against the backdrop of exiting by a number of key leaders from 2021 onwards. Ghulam Nabi Azad, the last leader leaving the party gave a kick start to the emulation by most leaders of the party’s J&K unit.

7.  After Sonia Gandhi quit the top party post being the president for around 19 years, the charge was handed over to her son Rahul Gandhi in 2017. Owning responsibility for the party’s second consecutive failure in general elections, Rahul Gandhi also  quit the post in 2019. Then the party’s defeat in a series of state elections trigged demands for an entire change in the party leadership.

8.  Now the demand from a major section of congress leaders for Rahul Gandhi to return as president has also been refused by Rahul himself. In spite of this some of the party leaders who have quit Congress, claim that Rahul Gandhi is always the unofficial decision-maker. The complainants also claim that a coterie around Mr Gandhi calls the shots.

9. After the Presidential election announcement some of the state Congress units have started urging that Rahul Gandhi should return as president. This is going to be seen in the days to come by more state unit leaders. This shows Rahul Gandhi’s de facto acceptance  as the party president. Simultaneously the Rahul Gandhi led Bharat Jodo Yatra also seem to be another pre-scripted attempt to relaunch Rahul Gandhi.

10. The discouraging Congress debacle has paved the way to a bigger political opportunity for opposition parties like Trinamool Congress and Arvind Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party. These two state parties have been striving hard for the prime space both in states and the opposition ranks.