Nagpur (Maharashtra):Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Saturday said that he was told by the Gandhis that they will stay neutral in the upcoming party president polls and that there was no 'official' candidate. Tharoor launched his campaign for the party president's election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument here in Maharashtra.
"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 told reporters.
Tharoor and party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge are the candidates in the fray for the election as former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi's nomination was rejected on Saturday. The three had filed nominations on Friday, the last day of the process. The withdrawal of nominations is allowed till October 8 and the final list of candidates will be out at 5 pm on the same day.
"We give respect to the big leaders, but it is time to hear the youth in the party. We will work to change the organisational structure of the party. Importance should be given to party workers,” Tharoor said in Nagpur, reported news agency ANI.
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Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters in New Delhi, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said the panel met for scrutiny of forms on Saturday. A total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process. Four of them were rejected as signatures were repeated or did not match, he said.
While Kharge submitted 14 forms, Tharoor submitted five and Tripathi one. "Two candidates - Kharge and Tharoor - are in a direct contest now. One form of another candidate from Jharkhand has been rejected," Mistry said. There is a seven-day window for withdrawal of forms till October 8 when the picture will be clearer, he said. If no one withdraws, the polling will be held, he added.
Mistry said Tripathi's form was rejected as the signature of one of his proposers did not match and another proposer's signature was repeated. While one rejected form was of Tripathi, Mistry refused to divulge who had filed the other three forms that were rejected
Reacting to the development and sharing the list of valid nominations issued by the chief election authority, Tharoor tweeted, "Delighted to learn that, following scrutiny, Shri Kharge and I will be squaring off in the friendly contest for President of Congress. May the Party and all our colleagues benefit from this democratic process!"
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Tharoor also presented his sixty nominees for the party's presidential post. In a tweet, the Thiruvananthapuram MP presented his 60 nominees from twelve states who have supported his candidature for the Congress's top post.
"I present my 60 nominees. 12 states, all levels of leadership but all proud incindia workers. I thank them & the thousands of workers they represent for the faith they have placed in me. Thanks, my Parliamentrary colleagues, for your unwavering support," Shashi Tharoor said in his post. "Colleagues from far and wide, thank you for your support for my candidacy," he further added.
According to a notification issued by the party on Thursday, the process for filing nominations for the election was from September 24 to 30. The polling, if needed, will be held on October 17. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 19 and the results will be declared the same day. Meanwhile, Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday.
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 and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. A Dalit leader from Karnataka, Kharge has emerged as the clear favourite for the Congress president' post. More than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will vote in the election.
