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Presidential polls is 'sideshow, main focus is...', says senior Congress leader
At a press conference in Karnataka on Friday, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said that the greatest contribution of the grand old party to Indian politics has been “consensus” and when that is not possible, an election is held.
Referring to the upcoming Congress presidential elections, MP Jairam Ramesh said on Friday that whatever is happening with the grand old party is only a “sideshow” and the main focus is on the ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. In a press briefing in Karnataka, where the campaign entered its 23rd day, the veteran politician called the yatra their “narrative”. “It is the transformation of Indian politics, it is certainly a transformation of the Congress party,” Ramesh added.
He said that the greatest contribution of the Congress party to Indian politics has been “consensus” and when that is not possible, an election is held.
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“Congress is the only party which has a system for electing a president…Every voter has QR coded voter ID card,” the MP added.
Referring to the Goa defections, the Rajasthan mass rebellion of MLAs and also the Congress presidential polls, Ramesh said that whatever has happened are part of “democratic politics”.
“All of you (reporters) will have a lot of questions on the Congress party afterwards, I know. But I want you to know that everything that is happening in the Congress party is…sideshow. The main show is ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’. The narrative is being set…not by the election of the Congress president, or by the defection of the MLAs in Goa. The narrative is being set by the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ that is being underway for the past 23 days. This is the real Congress that is emerging,” Ramesh said at the press briefing.
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His remarks come only hours after more drama unfolded on the last day to file nominations for the Congress presidential polls. Mallikarjun Kharge, the leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, filed the nomination papers and included himself in the race to take over from Sonia Gandhi as the grand old party's chief. His opponent is Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who also filed the nomination papers earlier today.
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, who met Gandhi on Thursday and ‘profusely’ apologised to her for the rebellion by MLAs in his state, opted out of the race to become the next Congress president. Digvijaya Singh also opted out after Kharge said he was going to contest the polls, saying he cannot be in the race against the latter.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Madhusudan Mistry, who is overseeing the party's presidential elections, confirmed that the list of final candidates in the race will be announced Saturday evening after thorough scrutiny. He, however, quashed speculations that the Gandhis are “endorsing” anyone (reportedly Kharge), saying he wants to be “very clear about it”.
Mistry told reporters at a press conference that they have received a total of 20 nomination forms, of which 14 were submitted by Kharge, five by Tharoor and one by Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi.
(With ANI inputs)
