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Shashi Tharoor is likely to throw his hat in the ring for the post of president of the party. A source said that the veteran party leader has been approached by leading figures
Twenty-four years after Sonia Gandhi became the president of Congress, the grand old party might see winds of change. Former party chief Rahul Gandhi, son of Sonia Gandhi, has already said no to the top post repeatedly. Rahul Gandhi, as per sources, has also made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will be considered for the party’s top post.
A party source told The New Indian that Shashi Tharoor is likely to throw his hat in the ring for the post of president of the party. The source said that the veteran party leader has been approached by leading figures, including some prominent names from India’s literary and political circles, to contest for the post.
But Tharoor might not be the only one. Sources told The New Indian that several senior party leaders are likely to contest the election for the president of the beleaguered party.
It is learnt that several letters and petitions were written to the former United Nations under-secretary-general to reignite hope and energy in the demoralised party cadres. Some even suggested to him that if fair play and a democratic election do not take place, then he should consider his presence in the party.
The source also said that Tharoor had already garnered international support from some key figures who expressed confidence in his experience and calibre. The source said that they have said that Tharoor is the last hope to restore India’s international image.
Tharoor, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram, is yet to make his intentions clear. The seasoned politician is keeping his cards close to his chest as he is mulling over the proposal. A source close to him said that Tharoor will first look at the leaders nominated for the presidential post and then decide on his candidature.
The name of Tharoor, a writer and public intellectual, cropped up for the top post after he wrote an article calling for a “free and fair” election. In the article, he said that ideally, the party should have announced elections for the dozen seats in the Congress Working Committee (CWC) itself.
Tharoor was one of the signatories of a letter written by 23 leaders to then-president Sonia Gandhi in August 2020 demanding active leadership. Four leaders from that group, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kapil Sibal, Jitin Prasad and Yoganand Shastri, have already resigned from the party.
Before the new schedule of the presidential polls, which was earlier set to be completed by September 20 this year, the names of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath were also discussed. However, both of them have refused to take up the top post. Even the names of Mukul Wasnik, Kumari Selja and KC Venugopal were doing the rounds.
