India / Congress President election was full of suspense country oldest party was shocked on these 5 occasions

Congress Presidential Election: After nearly 25 years, Congress is all set to elect a non-Gandhi as the party president. Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are facing each other in a historic election contest on Monday. At present, the responsibility of the party's president is with Sonia Gandhi. Voting for the post of Congress President will start from 10 am and will continue till 4 pm. The poll results will be declared on October 19. This will be the first time in two decades that the party will have an elected president. In 2000, Sonia Gandhi won the election of Congress President by defeating Jitendra Prasad.

Ashok Gehlot withdraws from the race for the post of Congress President

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was the frontrunner in the race to become the Congress President. He had formally announced his candidature for the Congress President's election on 22 August. He later recused himself from the election for the post of Congress President after meeting Sonia Gandhi on 29 September amid the turmoil over the Rajasthan crisis. Earlier, Gehlot had the support of the Gandhi family.

Rajasthan political crisis

After announcing his candidature, Ashok Gehlot said who would be his successor as the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, the decision would be taken by Sonia Gandhi and Congress's Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken. However, over 90 MLAs from the Ashok Gehlot camp revolted in Rajasthan with their resignations submitted to Speaker CP Joshi. These MLAs were upset that the central leadership was electing someone who rebelled against the party in 2020 and was ignoring the interests of those who stood firmly behind the party at that time. He was angry with the name of Sachin Pilot.

Addressing the media in Delhi after the meeting with Sonia Gandhi, Gehlot said that he apologized to Sonia Gandhi and distanced himself from the race for the post of Congress President. He also took moral responsibility for the boycott of the MLAs' meeting in Jaipur on 30 September. He said that Sonia Gandhi will decide on his continuing as Chief Minister.

When Digvijay Singh landed in the field

With Ashok Gehlot out of the race, there was a suspense about the election for this post. Meanwhile, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh brought the nomination papers for the party president election on September 29. He had also announced the filing of the form. Digvijay Singh had also met his colleagues Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal before filing his nomination for the post of Congress President. But as soon as Kharge's name surfaced, he withdrew his candidature.

Digvijay Singh said, 'Kharge ji is my leader and my senior. I had asked him yesterday whether he wanted to contest elections. He said no. I met him again today. I told him that if you are contesting elections then I am completely with you. I cannot think of contesting against him. He is filing his nomination and I will be his proposer.

Mallikarjun Kharge filled the form

As Digvijay Singh dropped out of the race, senior Congress leader from Karnataka and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination for the party president's post at the AICC headquarters in Delhi on September 30. He has challenged Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor. Kharge, a Gandhi family loyalist, has emerged as the top choice of the high command after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot withdrew from the race. His candidature was also proposed by many leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Digvijay Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari were among the proponents.

Shashi Tharoor files nomination for the post of party president

Congress leader and Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor also filed his nomination for the Congress President's election on 30 September. He handed over his papers to the chairman of the party's Central Election Authority, Madhusudan Mistry. He said those who want change should vote for him. Tharoor said, “It is a friendly match. We are not enemies or rivals. No disrespect to him, but I will represent my views.'s President's election, party shocked on 5 occasions