Congress President Election / Ashok Gehlot, Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari...Who in how much water?

Congress President Election: Nomination for the Congress President election will start from Saturday, which will last for a week. An interesting contest is expected in this election due to the Gandhi family being outside. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has announced the filing of nominations. He can be given competition by Shashi Tharoor, who is a three-time MP from Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat in Kerala.

It is expected that former Union Minister Manish Tewari can also fill the form. After nearly 22 years, elections are going to be held for the post of Congress President. In this election, veteran leader Ashok Gehlot's upper hand appears to be the heaviest. Starting from the unit chief of NSUI in Rajasthan, he has held the chair of Union Minister and three times as Chief Minister. After becoming the party president in the year 2017, Rahul Gandhi made Ashok Gehlot the second most important post in the Congress, that is, the general secretary of the organization. Even though the Gandhi family is telling itself neutral in the presidential election this time, it is believed that Gehlot has the confidence of the Gandhi family.

Will there be a one-sided election?

According to sources, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had asked Ashok Gehlot to take over the responsibility of party chief. After his name surfaced, Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh openly defended him. According to Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jitu Patwari, the common people of Congress have feelings with Gehlot. Senior Congress leaders who are not speaking openly also feel that as a "candidate" of the Gandhi family, they can win the election unilaterally.

On the other hand, there is Shashi Tharoor who is a three-time Lok Sabha MP and professional Congress chief, but his image in the organization is that of an outside leader. People are influenced by Tharoor's personality, but in the last ten-twelve years, he has not been able to connect himself with the common workers of Congress. In August 2020, Tharoor was also one of the G-23 leaders of the Congress under the leadership of Ghulam Nabi Azad, who wrote a letter to Sonia Gandhi demanding comprehensive reforms in the Congress. He is considered ambitious and opportunistic.

Recently, questioning the process of Congress President's election, he had demanded to make the voter list public. Interestingly, according to sources, Shashi Tharoor does not even have the confidence of the remaining leaders of the G-23, but it is believed that he can get a lot of votes in the southern states including Kerala.

Will Manish Tewari become the president?

On behalf of G-23, the name of MP Manish Tewari can be carried forward. In recent days, he praised the Modi government on the pretext of Jahan Agneepath scheme. At the same time, he has repeatedly targeted the Congress. Obviously, even if he gets the support of some faces of G-23, the common workers look at him with suspicion. An important point in his favor is that in the meeting of Punjab Congress leaders held in the past to pass a resolution to make Rahul Gandhi the party president again, only two Lok Sabha parliaments were present in the eight. Obviously Manish Tewari is expected to get tremendous support in Punjab.

To decide the picture of the last contest in the elections, one will have to wait till October 8, which is the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Voting will be held on October 17 and results will be declared on October 19. There are about nine thousand voters to choose the Congress President. These are called state representatives, who according to the Congress organization represent each block from across the country.

Whatever may be the new Congress president, but the biggest thing is that after 24 years, the party is going to get a president from outside the Gandhi family. Although it is known to all that despite this, the command of the party will remain in the hands of the Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi resigned from the post of Congress President just after the crushing defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A few months later, the CWC persuaded Sonia Gandhi to become the interim president. At the time of his resignation, Rahul Gandhi had made it clear that the next Congress president would be from outside the Gandhi family.