New Delhi: Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi has serious advice to give to the next party chief, who will be elected next month after two long decades.
While participating in the party’s outreach march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, Gandhi told the media Thursday that the Congress president’s chair was not merely organisational. “You are taking on a historic position that defines and has defined a particular view of India,” the leader would like to tell his successor.
“It is not just an organisational post, but an ideological post. It is a belief system. My advice would be that whoever becomes the next president should remember that he represents a set of ideas, a belief system and a view of India,” Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi’s reluctance to continue in the top post after the general elections drubbing in 2019 has thrown open the field for other Congress leaders.
It is an honour for me to serve the Congress Party, whose values and ideals have served as the lifeblood of our beautiful nation.
I owe the country and my organisation a debt of tremendous gratitude and love.
Jai Hind 🇮🇳 pic.twitter.com/WWGYt5YG4V
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) July 3, 2019
Gandhi also hoped Thursday that the party’s decision to give one post to one person would be adhered to in the case of the party president.
Congress general secretary Madhusudan Mistry on Thursday announced the schedule for the upcoming presidential elections.
The polls will be held at all state Congress offices on 17 October and the results will 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 party notification said.
So far, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Member of Parliament Shashi Tharoor have expressed their desire to contest. Also in the race are Kamal Nath, Digvijay Singh and Manish Tewari, according to the political grapevine.
The October polls are historic as the new president would replace interim chief Sonia Gandhi who has spearheaded the party since 1998, barring the two years of Rahul Gandhi’s reign between 2017 and 2019.
The last presidential poll was in November 2000 when Sonia Gandhi beat Jitin Prasada. Before that, Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh pilot in 1998.
It is learnt the Congress is preparing to authorise its next president to nominate All India Congress Committee (AICC) members and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents. AICC members vote to elect the 12 members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which is the party’s highest executive authority.
Elections to the CWC was one of the major demands of the dissenting G-23 group of Congress leaders.
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