Indian National Congress (INC) president Elections 2022 LIVE Updates: The nomination form of former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi was rejected as signatures of some of the proposers did not match. With Tripathi out of the race, the poll now is a direct fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.
With Kharge’s resignation as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president’s election, senior leaders P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and Pramod Tiwari are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle, according to sources. Kharge’s resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in line with the party’s declared ‘One person, One post’ principle that was announced at the Udaipur ‘Chintan Shivir’ in May.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor started his campaign for the party president’s election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument in Nagpur on Saturday, news agency PTI reported. Tharoor paid his tributes at Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who filed his nomination for the post of party president on Friday, said he was fighting for a big change in the party. He also appealed to all delegates to vote for him.
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president's election.
Kharge's resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday night, is in line with the party's declared 'One person, One post' principle that was announced at the Udaipur 'Chintan Shivir' in May. Senior leaders P Chidambaram, Digvijaya Singh and Pramod Tiwari are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.
The stage was set on Friday for a contest between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for the Congress president's post. Kharge, a Dalit leader from Karnataka, has emerged as the clear favourite. (PTI)
Former Union ministers Mohsina Kidwai, Saifuddin Soz, three MPs and G-23 leader Sandeep Dikshit are among those who signed the nomination forms in support of Shashi Tharoor's candidacy for the post of Congress president.
Tharoor posted six forms on Twitter though he could submit only five on Friday as he was late by a few minutes in submitting the sixth form. Also, it was not known if all his five forms were admitted as Congress' central election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry said on Saturday that out of the total 20 nomination forms, four were rejected.
According to the six forms posted by Tharoor on Twitter that had the signatures of 60 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates (10 each on six forms), 10 delegates from Jammu and Kashmir and 10 delegates from Nagaland have backed Tharoor. Among the prominent leaders who supported Tharoor were former Union ministers Soz, Kidwai, three MPs – Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Mohammad Jawaid – and Sandeep Dikshit. (PTI)
As the stage is all set for a contest between party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor in the Congress presidential polls, differences have cropped up among party leaders in Kerala on who should be supported in the elections to the top post.
If a section of senior leaders including Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly V D Satheesan openly extended their support to Kharge, some young leaders like Lok Sabha MP Hibi Eden expressed solidarity with Tharoor in his contest.
Talking to reporters in Kochi, Satheesan said state leaders and workers including him would work for the success of Kharge and they were waiting for the proud moment to see a Dalit becoming the president of the Congress. "He has been nominated after consulting with all senior leaders. So, Kharge will be supported. The contest for the party's presidential post is the beauty of democracy. Congress is a democratic party," he said. (PTI)
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said he was told by the Gandhi family that there is no "official" candidate in the party president's election and they will stay neutral.
Tharoor launched his campaign for the party president's election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument in Maharashtra. He and party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge are in the fray for the election, if held in the event of none of them withdrawing.
"I had met with all three (Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka) from the Gandhi family. They repeatedly told me there is no official candidate in the party president's election and there will be no such candidate. They want a good and fair election. The Gandhi family will be neutral and the party machinery impartial. They want a good election and the party to be strengthened. I don't have any doubts when the party president assured me," Tharoor said. (PTI)
"We give respect to big leaders but it is time to hear the youth in the party. We will work for changing organisational structure of the party and that importance should be given to workers of the party," Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said Saturday in Nagpur, ANI reported.
"Mallikarjun Kharge's confidence is good. I'm also confident that there are people who will listen to me too. Big leaders can naturally stand with other big leaders in party, but with me, there are workers of the party from different states," he added.
The nomination form of former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi rejected as signatures of some of the proposers did not match, according to sources. With Tripathi out of the race, the poll now is a direct fight between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.
Asked about the role of Gandhi family after election of Congress party president, presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor says, "Gandhi family and Congress' DNA is the same."
"No (party) president is such a fool to tell 'Goodbye' to Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to us," Tharoor added, ANI reported.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid on Saturday joined issue with Shashi Tharoor, who has said his electoral competitor in the AICC presidential poll, M Mallikarjun Kharge was a "candidate of continuity" and of "status quo", while those wanting change in party should vote for him.
Khurshid, who is among the leaders who have backed Kharge, also indicated that if consensus emerges on the poll, it will be good; if not and election does take place as scheduled on October 17, there will be no regrets.
"Shashi says this (Kharge) has elements of continuity, his (Tharoor's) has elements of change. But continuity and change are subjective terms, relative terms", the former Union Minister said. (PTI)
Pointing out that the internal democracy the Congress shows is not present in any other party, Congress presidential candidate and MP Shashi Tharoor said: "When the election was announced, I had the intention (to contest). I wrote an article, stating that the election is good for the party and mentioned its reasons."
Speaking to news agency ANI, he further said: "After that several people and ordinary workers told me to contest the poll. I started thinking about it and talked to people... I just want the party to be strengthened and that I become a voice of the changes within the party and show its different faces to people."
"This is not a battle... Let the party workers choose, that's our message. I'm saying that if you're satisfied with the party's functioning, vote for Kharge sahab. If you want change, I'm there. But there's no ideological problem," he added. (ANI)
#WATCH | Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor says, "This isn't a battle...Let party workers choose, that's our message. I'm saying that if you're satisfied with party's working,vote for Kharge sahab. If you want change, I'm there. But there's no ideological problem..." pic.twitter.com/N2pHXzY0BM
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, sources said on Saturday, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president's election.
Kharge's resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, is in line with the party's declared 'One person, One post' principle that was announced at the Udaipur 'Chintan Shivir' in May. The resignation letter was sent by Kharge last night, the sources said.
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. (PTI)
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17.
With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades. Read more
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will start his campaign for the party president's election by visiting the Deekshabhoomi monument here on Saturday.
Tharoor will pay his tributes at Deekshabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh.
Deshmukh has organised the Thiruvananthapuram MP's visit here. Tharoor, 66, filed his nomination for the Congress president's election in Delhi on Friday. (PTI)
Shashi Tharoor’s chances of being the next Congress president may have taken a hit after Mallikarjun Kharge entered the fray as the Gandhis’ unofficial choice but the MP from Thiruvananthapuram is going all out to do his bit to ensure he stands a chance to cause an upset.
After filing his nomination papers on Friday, Tharoor released a manifesto positioning himself as the Congress’s future. Read more
The Grand Old Party has a knack for scripting soap operas on the fly. It calls for great creative screenplay writing skills. While it may or may not deliver electoral success, unbridled entertainment is usually assured. Nothing else can explain the roller-coaster bumpy ride that was engineered by the current Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Ashok Gehlot. Read full Opinion piece by Sanjay Jha here
After major upheavals leading up to the nomination for the post of the Congress president, senior Congress leader Mallikharjun Kharge — whose name cropped up at the last minute — filed his nomination papers Friday. With this, he joins the contest with Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and Jharkhand MLA K N Tripathi. Kharge received 14 sets of nominations in his favour, while Tharoor received five and Tripathi one.
Party veteran Digvijaya Singh, who expressed his interest for the organisation’s top post and had also picked up the nomination papers, confirmed he was pulling out of the race. He was among Kharge’s proposers. Those who proposed his name include senior leaders, former Chief Ministers and sitting legislators from Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, home state Karnataka and Puducherry. Vidhatri Rao reports
Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly, Gulab Chand Kataria, on Friday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders will sit together and decide whether they need to approach a court regarding the pending resignations of Congress MLAs. “If we have to knock the door of the court, we will sit and decide together as a party,” Kataria told The Indian Express. “As per the rules of the Rajasthan Assembly, an MLA expressing desire to resign before the Speaker is sufficient enough,” he said.
Annoyed over Congress high command’s ‘unilateral’ decision to opt for a new chief minister without consulting them, around 90 MLAs had skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meet and submitted their resignation to Rajasthan Assembly Speaker C P Joshi late on September 25. However, the resignations have been pending with Joshi since then. Hamza Khan writes
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17. With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades.
With almost the entire top brass of the AICC rallying behind him, Kharge emerged as the unofficial establishment candidate and Tharoor the challenger. The third candidate in the fray is former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi. With around 9,100 PCC delegates eligible to cast their votes, the counting will be held on October 19. Manoj C G reports
Setting up a contest to decide a new Congress president after a gap of 22 years, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor Friday filed their nomination papers for the election on October 17. With the deadline ending for filing nominations, their move also confirmed the elevation of a non-Gandhi family member to the top post after nearly two-and-a-half decades.
With almost the entire top brass of the AICC rallying behind him, Kharge emerged as the unofficial establishment candidate and Tharoor the challenger. The third candidate in the fray is former Jharkhand minister K N Tripathi. With around 9,100 PCC delegates eligible to cast their votes, the counting will be held on October 19. Manoj CG reports
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor will visit the Deekshabhoomi monument here on Saturday and start his campaign for the party president's election. Tharoor will pay his tributes at Deekhabhoomi, where Dr B R Ambedkar converted to Buddhism along with his followers in 1956, on Saturday, said Maharashtra Congress leader Ashish Deshmukh.
Deshmukh has organized the Thiruvananthapuram MP's visit here. Tharoor filed his nomination for the Congress president's election in Delhi earlier in the day. On Sunday he will visit Mahatma Gandhi's Sewagram Ashram at Wardha and Vinoba Bhave's Ashram at Pawnar, Deshmukh told PTI. (PTI)
While the legislators on the CM’s side have been vocal, those in the Pilot camp have not yet publicly commented on the tussle. (Express Photo)
Congress chief whip, defiant ministers, outspoken MLAs: Meet those in middle of Rajasthan crisis
The shaky truce between the Rajasthan Congress factions loyal to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot unravelled on Sunday as the state was once again pushed into a political crisis.
This time, MLAs backing Gehlot skipped the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting convened by the party’s high command and tendered their resignations to Assembly Speaker CP Joshi. While the legislators on the CM’s side have been vocal, those in the Pilot camp have not yet publicly commented on the tussle. The Congress on Tuesday issued a show-cause notice to Gehlot loyalists Shanti Dhariwal, Mahesh Joshi and Dharmendra Rathore.