Sonia Gandhi meets with Tharoor in support of a petition calling for “constructive reforms” in Congress
Shashi Tharoor, who is rumored to be considering a run for the Congress presidency, endorsed a petition by young members of the party seeking “constructive reforms” on Monday and met with Sonia Gandhi, the assistant secretary general of the AICC.
Tharoor’s petition on Twitter sought reforms and a pledge from the AICC’s presidential candidates to implement the Udaipur Declaration in its entirety if they are elected. Over 650 people have signed it so far, the former Union minister said.
Several young @INCIndia members are circulating a petition calling for constructive reforms in the party. So far, more than 650 signatures have been collected. Tharoor tweeted screenshots of the petition with his endorsement and commitment to go beyond it.
Following his endorsement of the petition, Tharoor met with Sonia Gandhi, the interim leader of the party. It was not disclosed, however, what transpired during the meeting.
According to reports, Tharoor may run and may be nominated for Congress president alongside 23 other leaders who wrote to Gandhi in 2020 demanding a reorganization of the party.
In the petition Tharoor endorsed, he stated, “We are members of the Congress party who seek to strengthen the party in order to reflect the hopes and aspirations of the nation.” The petition contained some of the tenets of the Udaipur Declaration, which was issued after the party’s brainstorming session on May 15, 2022.
Our petition requests that all candidates for the election of the president of the All India Congress Committee take a public pledge to involve party members from block committees up to the Central Working Committee and implement the Udaipur Declaration in its entirety within the first 100 days of taking office.
Congress announced wide-ranging organizational reforms in its declaration to prepare the party for the next round of elections, emphasizing the importance of wider representation to people under 50 and the enforcement of ‘one person, one post’ and ‘one family, one ticket’ with riders.
Earlier this month, Tharoor told PTI that he had only welcomed the possibility of running for the position of Congress president. My thoughts are that this is very encouraging for the party.” “Of course, it is gratifying that this general statement of democratic principles has immediately resulted in many people around the country welcoming my candidacy. Tharoor had stated that while he had not declared his candidacy, he had made it clear that he had not declared his candidacy.
It is my hope that many candidates will run so that the membership will have a wide choice.The former Union minister had stated that he had not ruled himself in or out as of yet.
Nominations will be accepted between September 24 and September 30. Nominations must be withdrawn by October 8 and the election will take place on October 17, if necessary. The results will be announced on October 19.
