Congress leader, Shashi Tharoor asserted he has the support of party workers from across the country in his bid for the Congress President post. There are still speculations on the nomination of Rajasthan’s Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s bid for the top post of the party. In the midst of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Tharoor also met Rahul Gandhi in Kerala and said that was a courtesy call as Rahul was in his hometown.
According to Tharoor, several people from all around the nation have asked him to run for the party’s presidency. “You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper. I will be in the fray if I get support from party workers from the majority of the states”, said Tharoor in an interview.
He collected his nomination form for the Congress election post last Sunday. He said he was interested in fighting the poll but the picture will be clear after 30th September, the last day of submitting nomination papers.
The Congress leader said he has the support of the Nehru-Gandhi family in fighting the polls. He had discussed the matter with Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka “and all three have directly told me that they don’t have any issues”. He also claimed the support of party workers in Kerala in his bid to fight the polls.
The idea of more people contesting for the poll has been welcomed by the current Congress President, Sonia Gandhi. The process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The date for scrutiny of the nomination papers is October 1, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8. This election is being conducted after 22 years. The last election for the post of Congress president was in November 2000 when Sonia Gandhi won, defeating Jitendra Prasada.