5 key moments that defined Congress presidential election

As the Congress president poll nears its climax, a look at 5 key moments from the election for the chief of the grand old party

After nearly 25 years, the Congress is all set to announce a non-Gandhi as the party president on Wednesday with senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge expected to defeat Shashi Tharoor in the historical election held on Monday. The Karnataka leader looks all set to take over the top post, currently held by interim chief Sonia Gandhi.

Shashi Tharoor said those wanting change should vote for him while describing his electoral competitor Mallikarjun Kharge as a candidate of continuity and status quo. (ANI File Photo)

This will be the first time in over two decades that the party will have an elected president. The last electoral contest for the top post of the party took place in 2000 when Sonia Gandhi defeated Jitendra Prasada to become the Congress president.

As the Congress president poll nears its climax, let’s take a look at 5 key moments from this election for the chief of the grand old party.

Ashok Gehlot opting out of Congress presidential race

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was a front-runner of the race initially. He formally announced his candidature for the Congress presidential election on August 22 and said he took the decision since “nobody from the Gandhi family was contesting.” But on September 29, he said that he won’t contest for the post of Congress president after a meeting with Sonia Gandhi amid a turmoil in his home state. Before this, Gehlot was reportedly favoured by the Gandhis, emerging as the top contender for the top post. He initially hoped to hold his post as Rajasthan chief minister along with the top job in the party, but he had to drop the idea after Rahul Gandhi declared that the party will go by its “one man one post” rule, according to people familiar with the matter.

Rajasthan Political Crisis

After announcing his candidature, Ashok Gehlot said the decision as to who will succeed him as the Rajasthan chief minister will be taken by Sonia Gandhi and Congress’s Rajasthan in-charge Ajay Maken, potentially paving the way for his former deputy Sachin Pilot’s elevation. This, however, led to a rebellion in Rajasthan with over 90 MLAs close to the Gehlot camp submitting their resignations to the Assembly Speaker CP Joshi. These legislators were miffed by the fact that the central leadership was choosing someone who rebelled against the party in 2020 and is ignoring the interest of those who stood firmly with the party at that time. Displeased with Gehlot and the rebellion by his loyalists, the Congress high command reportedly sought an explanation from the Rajasthan chief minister. Addressing media persons in the national Capital following a meeting with Gandhi, Gehlot said he apologised to Sonia Gandhi and cited moral responsibility for the MLAs’ boycott of the meeting in Jaipur on September 30 as the reason for his withdrawal from the Congress presidential race. He added that Sonia Gandhi would decide his continuance as chief minister.

Digvijay Singh enters the fray

With Gehlot out of the race, senior leader Digvijaya Singh collected the nomination papers for the party president election on September 29 and announced that he will file the papers. Ahead of filing his nomination for the Congress presidential poll, Digvijaya Singh met his colleagues Mallikarjun Kharge and KC Venugopal. Minutes after this meeting with Kharge, Singh announced that he will not contest and would instead propose the candidature of Kharge. “Kharge ji is my leader and my senior. I had asked him yesterday if he wanted to contest. He said no. I met him again today. I told him I am with you fully if you are contesting. I can’t think of contesting against him. He is filing his nomination and I will be his proposer,” Singh said.

Mallikarjun Kharge files nomination

As Digvijaya Singh backed out of the race, senior Congress leader from Karnataka and leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination on September 30 at the AICC headquarters in Delhi for the post of party president, taking on Kerala MP Shashi Tharoor. A surprise candidate, Kharge, a Gandhi family loyalist, emerged as the top choice of the high command. His candidature was proposed by several party leaders like Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders, Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari, also proposed Kharge’s candidature. Two days before the election, Kharge also joined Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra for the first time in Ballari on Saturday, its 38th day, and walked for more than 2km.

Shashi Tharoor files nomination

Congress leader and MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor also filed his nomination on September 30 submitting his papers to the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry. He said those wanting change should vote for him while describing his electoral competitor Kharge, who appeared as the favourite to win, as a candidate of continuity and status quo. Tharoor said he is aware of his underdog tag and talk of an ‘official candidate’ in some quarters but he has been told by the Gandhi family repeatedly that they are neither directly nor indirectly backing anyone. Addressing a press conference after filing his nomination papers, Tharoor said, “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 campaigning has, however, had its share of controversies with Tharoor repeatedly alleging that the system was skewed in favour of Kharge, with senior leaders issuing appeals in favour of the veteran leader and state chiefs shunning him during his campaign visits. Tharoor also accused “some leaders”, without naming them, of indulging in “netagiri” by telephoning PCC delegates to claim that Kharge was the choice of the Gandhi family, even though Sonia Gandhi has conveyed that the family was neutral. Tharoor said he received “difference in treatment”, “bias”, and an uneven playing field in comparison to Kharge during the campaign for the polls.

There were over 9,000 voters in what was the sixth Congress presidential election post-Independence. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were elected unopposed.