New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor filed his nomination for the post of Congress President at the AICC headquarters in Delhi this morning. Today is the last day of filing nominations.
Even Jharkhand Congress leader K.N. Tripathi filed the nomination and said he respected the party decision. Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has entered the race as the choice of the Gandhis.
Kharge filed his nomination this afternoon and his candidature was proposed by party leaders Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, P.L. Punia, A.K. Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari are also proposers for Kharge’s candidature.
Kharge is likely to resign as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha in line with the Congress’ “one person, one post” rule, said sources.
Digvijaya Singh, who collected his nomination papers yesterday, dropped out of the contest after meeting with Kharge this morning. After a late-night meeting, Congress veteran K.C. Venugopal conveyed to Kharge that the leadership wants him to contest, said sources, despite the Gandhis saying they would remain neutral.
This is the first Congress President election in more 20 years with non-Gandhis in the contest. The Gandhis have refused to contest making way for other senior leaders to head the party.
Why kharge at this age? New India should be taken forward by young, active and creative minds. Maybe Shashi Taroor fits the bill.
India taken forward, with the likes of younger MPs like Simha or his equivalent in the Congress? The younger MPs and MLAs have grown up in the same corrupt pond with the corrupt society assisting them!
At least Kharge is amrried, I guess, and not suspicious single men like Narendra Modi-who abandoned his wife and Rahul Gandhi, whose case is unknown!