AICC president election notified by Congress; contest likely after more than 20 years
The Congress on Thursday issued an invitation to the party president’s poll, which will set the stage for announcing who will succeed the long-serving chief Sonia Gandhi, with the senior party leaders Ashok Gehlot as well as Shashi Tharoor being considered potential candidates.
In the announcement released by the party’s central chairman of the election authority Madhusudan Mistry, the process to file nominations for the elections is scheduled to begin between September 24 and 30 September.
The scrutinization of nomination documents would begin on October 1st, and the deadline for cancellation of nominations is October 8. A finalized list of candidates will be announced at 5 p.m. on the 8th of October.
The polling, if necessary, will be held on the 17th of October. The count of votes and the announcement of results would take place on the 19th of October.
More than 9000 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates will take part in the voting. The party also promised the leaders that anyone who wants to make nominations will be able to view the entire list of 9,000 delegated from the central election authority in the AICC office starting on the 20th of September.
In the announcement, Central Election Authority Chairman Madhusudan Mistry, under the authority conferred upon him by the provisions of Article XVIII in the Constitution of The Indian National Congress issued a notice that nomination forms can be obtained in the AICC Office, 24 Akbar Road, New Delhi.
“I hereby call upon the delegates of the Congress Party to elect the President of Indian National Congress in accordance with the provision made under Article XVIII,” Mistry declared in the announcement.
The race to be the Congress president’s post was heated on Wednesday, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot giving a clear indication that he is likely to join the fray. He also mentioned Shashi Tharoor meeting with the party’s election panel head to inquire about the formalities to be followed for nomination.
Over two decades later over two decades, it appears that Congress has been set to witness an election in the post of the party’s head.
The forthcoming elections will surely be significant as the new president would succeed Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving party president, who has been in charge since 1998, with the exception of those two years between the year 2017 and 2019,, during which Rahul Gandhi assumed the presidency.
The party last had a race to the post on November 20, 2000. Jitendra Prasada was defeated by Sonia Gandhi in 2000 and before the election, Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.
In the event that Rahul Gandhi is most likely to adhere to his stand of not taking the role of president of the party once more, it is likely that the party is likely to have its first president who is not Gandhi in more than two decades.
Additionally considering Sonia Gandhi asserts that she will remain neutral in polls, and there is any “official candidate” it could be a much more intense contest as opposed to the one of 2000.
