With Tripathi out of the race, the poll now is a direct fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor. (File)Indian National Congress (INC) president Elections 2022 Updates: The nomination form of former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi was rejected as signatures of some of the proposers did not match. With Tripathi out of the race, the poll now is a direct fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.
With Kharge’s resignation as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president’s election, senior leaders P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and Pramod Tiwari are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle, according to sources. Kharge’s resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in line with the party’s declared ‘One person, One post’ principle that was announced at the Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor started his campaign for the party president’s election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument in Nagpur on Saturday, news agency PTI reported. Tharoor paid his tributes at Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who filed his nomination for the post of party president on Friday, said he was fighting for a big change in the party. He also appealed to all delegates to vote for him.
While the legislators on the CM’s side have been vocal, those in the Pilot camp have not yet publicly commented on the tussle. (Express Photo)
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president's election.
Kharge's resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday night, is in line with the party's declared 'One person, One post' principle that was announced at the Udaipur 'Chintan Shivir' in May. Senior leaders P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and Pramod Tiwari are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
The stage was set on Friday for a contest between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for the Congress president's post. Kharge, a Dalit leader from Karnataka, has emerged as the clear favourite. (PTI)
Former Union ministers Mohsina Kidwai, Saifuddin Soz, three MPs and G-23 leader Sandeep Dikshit are among those who signed the nomination forms in support of Shashi Tharoor's candidacy for the post of Congress president.
Tharoor posted six forms on Twitter though he could submit only five on Friday as he was late by a few minutes in submitting the sixth form. Also, it was not known if all his five forms were admitted as Congress' central election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry said on Saturday that out of the total 20 nomination forms, four were rejected.
According to the six forms posted by Tharoor on Twitter that had the signatures of 60 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates (10 each on six forms), 10 delegates from Jammu and Kashmir and 10 delegates from Nagaland have backed Tharoor. Among the prominent leaders who supported Tharoor were former Union ministers Soz, Kidwai, three MPs – Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Mohammad Jawaid – and Sandeep Dikshit. (PTI)
As the stage is all set for a contest between party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor in the Congress presidential polls, differences have cropped up among party leaders in Kerala on who should be supported in the elections to the top post.
If a section of senior leaders including Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly V D Satheesan openly extended their support to Kharge, some young leaders like Lok Sabha MP Hibi Eden expressed solidarity with Tharoor in his contest.
Talking to reporters in Kochi, Satheesan said state leaders and workers including him would work for the success of Kharge and they were waiting for the proud moment to see a Dalit becoming the president of the Congress. "He has been nominated after consulting with all senior leaders. So, Kharge will be supported. The contest for the party's presidential post is the beauty of democracy. Congress is a democratic party," he said. (PTI)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he was told by the Gandhi family that there is no "official" candidate in the party president's election and they will stay neutral.
Tharoor launched his campaign for the party president's election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument in Maharashtra. He and party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge are in the fray for the election, if held in the event of none of them withdrawing.
"I had met with all three (Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka) from the Gandhi family. They repeatedly told me there is no official candidate in the party president's election and there will be no such candidate. They want a good and fair election. The Gandhi family will be neutral and the party machinery impartial. They want a good election and the party to be strengthened. I don't have any doubts when the party president assured me," Tharoor said. (PTI)
"We give respect to big leaders but it is time to hear the youth in the party. We will work for changing organisational structure of the party and that importance should be given to workers of the party," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said Saturday in Nagpur, ANI reported.
"Mallikarjun Kharge's confidence is good. I'm also confident that there are people who will listen to me too. Big leaders can naturally stand with other big leaders in party, but with me, there are workers of the party from different states," he added.
The nomination form of former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi rejected as signatures of some of the proposers did not match, according to sources. With Tripathi out of the race, the poll now is a direct fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.
Asked about the role of Gandhi family after election of Congress party president, presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor says, "Gandhi family and Congress' DNA is the same."
"No (party) president is such a fool to tell 'Goodbye' to Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to us," Tharoor added, ANI reported.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday joined issue with Shashi Tharoor, who has said his electoral competitor in the AICC presidential poll, M Mallikarjun Kharge was a "candidate of continuity" and of "status quo", while those wanting change in party should vote for him.
Khurshid, who is among the leaders who have backed Kharge, also indicated that if consensus emerges on the poll, it will be good; if not and election does take place as scheduled on October 17, there will be no regrets.
"Shashi says this (Kharge) has elements of continuity, his (Tharoor's) has elements of change. But continuity and change are subjective terms, relative terms", the former Union Minister said. (PTI)
Pointing out that the internal democracy the Congress shows is not present in any other party, Congress presidential candidate and MP Shashi Tharoor said: "When the election was announced, I had the intention (to contest). I wrote an article, stating that the election is good for the party and mentioned its reasons."
Speaking to news agency ANI, he further said: "After that several people and ordinary workers told me to contest the poll. I started thinking about it and talked to people... I just want the party to be strengthened and that I become a voice of the changes within the party and show its different faces to people."
"This is not a battle... Let the party workers choose, that's our message. I'm saying that if you're satisfied with the party's functioning, vote for Kharge sahab. If you want change, I'm there. But there's no ideological problem," he added. (ANI)
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president's election.
Kharge's resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in line with the party's declared 'One person, One post' principle that was announced at the Udaipur 'Chintan Shivir' in May. The resignation letter was sent by Kharge last night, the sources said.
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. (PTI)
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17.
With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades. Read more
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will start his campaign for the party president's election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument here on Saturday.
Tharoor will pay his tributes at Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh.
Deshmukh has organised the Thiruvananthapuram MP's visit here. Tharoor, 66, filed his nomination for the Congress president's election in Delhi on Friday. (PTI)
Shashi Tharoor’s chances of being the next Congress president may have taken a hit after Mallikarjun Kharge entered the fray as the Gandhis’ unofficial choice but the MP from Thiruvananthapuram is going all out to do his bit to ensure he stands a chance to cause an upset.
After filing his nomination papers on Friday, Tharoor released a manifesto positioning himself as the Congress’s future. Read more
The Grand Old Party has a knack for scripting soap operas on the fly. It calls for great creative screenplay writing skills. While it may or may not deliver electoral success, unbridled entertainment is usually assured. Nothing else can explain the roller-coaster bumpy ride that was engineered by the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot. Read full Opinion piece by Sanjay Jha here
After major upheavals leading up to the nomination for the post of the Congress president, senior Congress leader Mallikharjun Kharge — whose name cropped up at the last minute — filed his nomination papers Friday. With this, he joins the contest with Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and Jharkhand MLA K N Tripathi. Kharge received 14 sets of nominations in his favour, while Tharoor received five and Tripathi one.
Party veteran Digvijaya Singh, who expressed his interest for the organisation’s top post and had also picked up the nomination papers, confirmed he was pulling out of the race. He was among Kharge’s proposers. Those who proposed his name include senior leaders, former Chief Ministers and sitting legislators from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, home state Karnataka and Puducherry. Vidhatri Rao reports
Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, Gulab Chand Kataria, on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders will sit together and decide whether they need to approach a court regarding the pending resignations of Congress MLAs. “If we have to knock the door of the court, we will sit and decide together as a party,” Kataria told The Indian Express. “As per the rules of the Rajasthan Assembly, an MLA expressing desire to resign before the Speaker is sufficient enough,” he said.
Annoyed over Congress high command’s ‘unilateral’ decision to opt for a new chief minister without consulting them, around 90 MLAs had skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meet and submitted their resignation to Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi late on September 25. However, the resignations have been pending with Joshi since then. Hamza Khan writes
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17. With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades.
With almost the entire top brass of the AICC rallying behind him, Kharge emerged as the unofficial establishment candidate and Tharoor the challenger. The third candidate in the fray is former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi. With around 9,100 PCC delegates eligible to cast their votes, the counting will be held on October 19. Manoj C G reports
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17. With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades.
With almost the entire top brass of the AICC rallying behind him, Kharge emerged as the unofficial establishment candidate and Tharoor the challenger. The third candidate in the fray is former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi. With around 9,100 PCC delegates eligible to cast their votes, the counting will be held on October 19. Manoj CG reports
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will visit the Deekshabhoomi monument here on Saturday and start his campaign for the party president's election. Tharoor will pay his tributes at Deekhabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh.
Deshmukh has organized the Thiruvananthapuram MP's visit here. Tharoor filed his nomination for the Congress president's election in Delhi earlier in the day. On Sunday he will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Sewagram Ashram at Wardha and Vinoba Bhave's Ashram at Pawnar, Deshmukh told PTI. (PTI)
Several titans entered and exited and two were left standing at the end of nominations for the Congress president’s post on Friday. And then there was K N Tripathi. The former Congress MLA and ex-minister from Jharkhand popped up out of nowhere to join the race, though no one is sure he will get very far.
Back in Jharkhand, about the only time Tripathi, 45, made news was during the 2019 Assembly elections, when as the Congress candidate from Daltonganj, he brandished guns after supporters of the BJP candidate allegedly surrounded him in Koshiyara village of the constituency. Abhishek Angad writes
Having filed nomination papers for the post of Congress president, Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday framed the contest between him and party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge as a choice between “change” represented by him and continuation of status quo and business and usual by Kharge. While calling Kharge the Bhishma Pitamah of Congress, he said the veteran is seen as the candidate of continuity.
A bevy of top AICC leaders led by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, A K Antony, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Ambika Soni, Digvijaya Singh, several CWC members and AICC office bearers, including Ajay Maken and Tariq Anwar, signed as proposers on the three sets of nomination papers filed by Kharge, sending a clear signal that he is the unofficial establishment candidate. Manoj CG writes
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gandhi’s meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday ended with his profuse apologies to her, his withdrawal from the party president’s race, and suspense over his continuation as CM. However, photos of a note he carried into the meeting show he had come fully prepared to put across his side of the story.
The note with its pointers, which included expression of regret to Sonia, was captured by Malayala Manorama photographer Suresh Jayaprakash. Read more
The Grand Old Party has a knack for scripting soap operas on the fly. It calls for great creative screenplay writing skills. While it may or may not deliver electoral success, unbridled entertainment is usually assured. Nothing else can explain the roller-coaster bumpy ride that was engineered by the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot.
Putatively favoured by the Congress High Command as the potential Congress president, the avaricious Gehlot wanted to kill two birds with one stone. The supposedly canny politician wanted both the coveted positions (he dreads Sachin Pilot’s brio and charisma will obliterate his legacy in the desert state) but bit more than he could chew. Dumped unceremoniously by Sonia Gandhi for instigating an internal rebellion in his own party in Rajasthan in an atrocious manifestation of political naivete, Gehlot’s departure created a conundrum. Who, then, could be a more compliant compromised candidate? With Shashi Tharoor publicly stating his intention for the top job, the choice of a suitable lame-duck status quoist had clearly narrowed down to the usual suspects — Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Digvijay Singh, etc. Not surprisingly, despite the melodramatic cameo appearance of Digvijay Singh, it is Kharge who has emerged as the “unofficial official” candidate of the Congress. It is a missed opportunity of gargantuan proportions. Sanjay Jha writes
An initial version of Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s manifesto for the upcoming elections for party president showed a distorted map of India, with parts of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh omitted from it. His office later corrected the omission, and a fresh version now includes the official map of India.
Tharoor’s manifesto includes ‘ten tenets’ to ‘revitalise’ Congress. These include decentralisation, ‘reimagining’ the role of AICC, broadening participation, ‘reinvigorating’ election management, and increased focus on youth. On page four of the manifesto, under decentralisation, a distorted version of India’s map was printed. The Thiruvananthapuram MP filed his nomination papers for presidential candidature on Friday morning. Others in the race include veteran leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Digvijaya Singh and K N Tripathi. Currently, Kharge, 80, is being seen as the favourite to win the election. Read more
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday asserted that he has a vision to strengthen the party which should be a vehicle for "change" as he filed his nomination for the party president poll. Addressing a press conference after filing his papers, the former Union minister called his rival Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also contesting and is being seen as the favourite to win, 'Bhishma Pitamah' of the Congress.
"It is a friendly contest that is going to happen. We are not enemies or rivals. No disrespect to him but I will represent my ideas," the articulate and savvy Kerala MP told reporters. Tharoor called Kharge, 80, a "candidate of continuity", an apparent reference to the impression that the Karnataka leader is the choice of the Gandhis. (PTI)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday released a 10-point manifesto for the upcoming party presidential elections. One of the main points of the manifesto was to decentralise the organisation.
"Every party needs leadership, but at all levels and not just at the top. The Congress must empower the party in the states by giving real authority to the PCC Presidents, decentralize authority and truly empower the grassroots office-bearers of the party. We must provide a credible alternative to the B P's centralization of authority in its party affairs and in the affairs of governance. Re-imagining the organization, delegating powers to state, district and block leaders and empowering grassroots workers will not only free the new leader from the onerous burdens of over-administration, but help create the strong state leadership that in past eras strengthened the Congress' national appeal," the manifesto read.
Congress' Central Election Authority Chariman Madhusudan Mistry on Friday said that 14 forms were submitted by senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge, while Shashi Tharoor submitted five and KN Tripathi gave one form, while filing their nomination papers for the upcoming Congress presidential polls. "Tomorrow, we'll scrutinise forms&tomorrow evening we'll announce forms that are valid&names of candidates," Mistry said. (ANI)
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot backs the nomination of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge in the upcoming party presidential polls. On Thursday, Gehlot pulled out of the race. (Express/Anil Sharma)
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination for the post of party president on Friday at the AICC heaquarters in New Delhi. Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot were present during the filing of nomination. Kharge said he was fighting for a big change in the party. (Express/Anil Sharma)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor talks about his reasons for contesting the upcoming Congress presidential polls, his plans for the party, the role of the Gandhi family, and the importance of the poll for the future of the Congress, and says he realises both his strengths and his weaknesses. Excerpts:
The BJP on Friday took a swipe at the Congress after senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge emerged as the favourite to win the poll for party president, suggesting that he will be a "proxy" and "remote-controlled."
"Mallikarjun Kharge at 80 is an inspiring choice for the Congress. He is young, energetic and just what the Congress needed to ensure its revival. He should just pick Dr Manmohan Singh's manual on 'Living by the Remote Control' and it is all sorted," BJP IT department head Amit Malviya said in a tweet. (PTI)
Shashi Tharoor knew it was coming as none of them had come forward to sign his nomination papers. But leading lights of the G-23 such as Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, and Prithviraj Chavan on Friday sprang a surprise by rallying behind the unofficial “establishment” candidate Mallikarjun Kharge and signing his nomination papers as proposers.
The G-23 — an initial group of 23 leaders who wrote to party president Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking organisational reforms — it seems, has been co-opted by the leadership despite its intermittent private criticism of the style of functioning of All India Congress Committee (AICC) managers and venting of angst. Tharoor in an interview to The Indian Express said that “I am not contesting on G 23’s behalf nor am I seeking an endorsement from them. My candidacy aims to revive the party, not to disrupt it.” Read more
The devout assign a role to destiny in the rise and fall of leaders. Others say it is a combination of various factors — timing, circumstances, diplomacy and craft – apart from, of course, machinations and intrigue. Who else would know it better than Mallikarjun Kharge, the man who lost out in the race for Karnataka Chief Ministership thrice and is now all set to helm the Congress.
The stab of those lost shots at being CM – in 1999, 2004 and 2013 – are known to still hurt the 80-year-old veteran who, despite being a staunch loyalist of the Gandhi family, lost out, respectively, to S M Krishna, his close friend Dharam Singh and Siddaramaiah. Manoj C G writes
Senior Congress leaders including Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik have officially backed the nomination of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge for the upcoming presidential polls.
After filing his nomination papers for the upcoming Congress presidential polls on Friday, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said, "I am fighting for a big change." Kharge also appealed to party delegates to vote for him in the election, PTI reporetd.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination papers in New Delhi on Friday for the upcoming party presidential elections and appealed to Congress workers to vote for him. Kharge said, “All leaders, workers, delegates & ministers who came in support of me today, encouraged me, I thank them. We’ll see what the results are, on 17th October; hopeful that I win.” (ANI)
As Rahul Gandhi concluded the Kerala leg of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Malappuram district Thursday, he took to Twitter to thank the people of the state. “Home is where you get love, and Kerala is home for me. No matter how much affection I give, I always get more in return from the people here. I am forever indebted. Thank you,” he wrote.
But the yatra was not all smooth-sailing. The ruling CPM and the Congress took every opportunity to hit out at each other. And, lately, at the centre of this back-and-forth was parotta and beef fry. Aneesa PA writes
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday after filing the nomination for the Congress president polls said, "I've a vision for Congress which I'll be sending to all delegates, we're going to seek their support... I'm here to be the voice of all party workers."
In his statement he also said, "We're very pleased to have signs of party colleagues from Kashmir to Kerala, from Punjab to Nagaland. I hope my campaign will appeal to them and will represent a way forward for the party."
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday filed his nomination for the post of party president. His candidature was proposed by party leaders Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari are also proposers for Kharge's candidature.
Kharge is one of the most experienced persons in the party and is a Dalit leader too, Tewari said.
Congress MP Deepender S Hooda on Friday said that he has signed Mallikarjun Kharge's nomination papers as a proposer.
He in a statement said, "I welcome Mallikarjun Kharge's nomination for Congress president post, confident that he will elected. Over the years, he has raised the voice of the people in Parliament. I've signed his nomination papers as a proposer."
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday submitted his nominations papers for the upcoming party president polls. Tharoor in a tweet said, "I have just submitted my nomination papers as a candidate for the presidential election of INC. It is a privilege to serve the only party in India with an open democratic process to choose its leader. Greatly appreciate Soniaji’s guidance and vision."
As the election for the Congress president’s post hots up, an unlikely candidate filed his nomination papers on Friday. Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi said that he has filed his nomination today and will be contesting the election.
Congress leader Manish Tewari on Friday said that he along with colleague Anand Sharma are supporting the candidature of Mallikarjun Kharge for party president's poll. (PTI)
Supporters of Rajasthan Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Friday gathered at AICC headquaters in Delhi.
One of his supporter said Pilot knows about problems at the ground level and what the party workers go through. We demand such a leader should be made the party president.
Set to file his nomination for the Congress presidential election hours from now, Shashi Tharoor talks about his reasons for contesting, his plans for the party, the role of the Gandhi family, the importance of the poll for the future of the Congress, and says he realises both his strengths and his weaknesses. Excerpts: (Read more)
Rajasthan Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot on Friday said that he will propose Mallikarjun Kharge for the upcoming president poll. In a statement, he said, "Our senior leaders together have taken the decision regarding Kharge ji's nomination (for Congress president post), I will be a proposer for him."
Earlier, Gehlot was in the fray for the Congress president post, but the political crisis in his state led him to withdraw from the race.
Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi on Friday said that he will contest the party president election and file his nomination at 1 pm today.
"I'll file my nomination at 1pm today. Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi have said that they're neither requesting anyone to contest nor declining anyone it...we want to see what the rank&file of the party want," Tripathi said.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh announces he won't contest party president's poll, will propose colleague Mallikarjun Kharge's nomination. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari has also proposed Kharge's name for the race.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who will be filing the nominations for the party president polls paid tribute to former PM Rajiv Gandhi and Mahatma Gandhi on Friday. In a tweet, Tharoor said, 'Paid tribute to the man who built India’s bridge to the 21st century this morning.'
“India is an Old country but a young nation… I dream of India Strong, Independent, Self-Reliant and in the front rank of the nations of the world, in the service of mankind.” ~ Rajiv Gandhi.
In a separate tweet, he also said, "Paid homage to the Great Soul at Rajghat before embarking on my campaign."
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
On the day when senior Congress leader and MP Shashi Tharoor will be filing his nomination for the party chief’s election, rumours have been rife about Mallikarjun Kharge, too, joining the race. Reacting to this, he said: “I only see speculation (of LoP Mallikarjun Kharge contesting for post of Congress President). He's also a very respected colleague. We have worked together in the Lok Sabha. It'll be a good thing to have more people in the frame.'
Congress MP Digvijaya Singh on Friday arrived at the residence of Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge. Singh will file his nomination for the post of Congress president today.
Congress leader Digvijaya Singh will submit his nomination papers for the upcoming party president's elections at 11:15 am on Friday. Later, Singh will hold a press conference at 12:00 pm at his residence on 97 Lodhi Estate. (ENS)
Congress G23 camp leaders including Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, and BS Hooda attended a meeting at party leader Anand Sharma’s residence in New Delhi on Thursday night. This development comes hours after Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot announced that he would not contest in the upcoming Congress presidential polls.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot on Thursday night met Congress president Sonia Gandhi and said he discussed the events in the state in detail and expressed his sentiments on the situation. Pilot’s meeting comes hours after his bete noire and Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had met her and later announced that he would not contest the Congress presidential poll after taking moral responsibility for the political crisis in his state. (Express Photos/Anil Sharma)
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has set an example by apologising to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, said state party leader Mahesh Joshi on Thursday, days after MLAs loyal to the CM did not attend a CLP meeting that led to a political crisis. After meeting Gandhi on Thursday in Delhi, Gehlot took moral responsibility for the political developments in the state and said he won't contest for the party chief's post.
"CM Ashok Gehlot has touched the highest dimensions of morality, faith and integrity by apologising to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. Perhaps for the first time in the country any person of the rank of a chief minister has set an example of such humility," Joshi, who is the government chief whip in the state Assembly, tweeted. (PTI)
With Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot indicating his anguish before party president Sonia Gandhi on Thursday, his loyalists in Jaipur rallied behind him and indicated that it was a delicate moment for the party veteran indeed. Cross over Congress high command’s ‘unilateral’ decision to opt for a Chief Minister without consulting them, around 90 MLAs had skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meet and submitted their resignation to Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi late on September 25. Read. more
After meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday night, Rajasthan party leader and MLA Sachin Pilot said, "Whatever positive decisions have to be taken with respect to Rajasthan, Congress president will take."
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot reached Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence in Delhi on Thursday for a meeting with her. Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Pilot said, “Have discussed the events of Jaipur in detail. I have conveyed my sentiments and feedback to Congress president Sonia Gandhi. We all want to work hard and win 2023 elections in Rajasthan. For that we will need to work together.”