New Delhi: The stage is set for a non-Gandhi to be elected the president of the Congress Party after 24 long years.
Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will be the next party chief, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said after meeting the leader in Kochi Friday, according to news agency ANI.
Gehlot was in Kochi to make a last-ditch attempt to persuade Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party, but to no avail. “He has decided this due to some reasons. A non-Gandhi member will become the party chief,” ANI quoted the Rajasthan chief minister as saying.
Gehlot is likely to file his nomination as a presidential candidate next week and will step down as chief minister if elected.
Rahul Gandhi — who is currently in Kerala for the party’s outreach programme Bharat Jodo Yatra — reiterated a day earlier that the Congress would abide by the recent decision that one leader should hold only one post.
“What we had decided in Udaipur (one person, one post) is a commitment of the Congress and I expect that commitment will be maintained (by the next president),” Gandhi told reporters in Kochi on Thursday, hours after he met Gehlot.
Gehlot flew down to Kerala ostensibly to try to convince him one last time to contest in the polls. This, the Congress veteran said, was the wish of party workers.
The presidential polls will be held at all state Congress offices on 17 October and the results would be announced two days later.
The nominations for the post are to be filed between 24 and 30 September. The final list of candidates will be released at 5 pm on 8 October.
The nomination form will be available at the AICC Office, 24 Akbar Road, New Delhi, the notification said.
Sachin Pilot waiting in the wings
Gehlot’s resignation may heighten tension with his deputy Sachin Pilot, with whom the veteran has been in a power tussle for most of the present government’s tenure.
Pilot has made no bones about his chief ministerial ambition and is seen by most Congress insiders as the high command’s choice for the post should Gehlot make the transition to Delhi. Gehlot, on the other hand, may want a person of his choice.
The Gehlot camp has made suitable noises about the next incumbent being chosen by MLAs rather than imposed by the high command. Asked about his successor while he was in Kerala, Gehlot said: “I don’t want to make a comment on anyone in particular. Let us see what situation unfolds in Rajasthan, what decision the Congress high command takes, and what the Rajasthan MLAs think. It all depends on that.”
Also read: No Gandhi to contest Congress president elections, reiterates Gehlot