Shashi in race, Bansal picks form; no word on Raj CM’s candidature

| | New Delhi
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Shashi in race, Bansal picks form; no word on Raj CM’s candidature

Wednesday, 28 September 2022 | Pioneer News Service | New Delhi

The Rajasthan political crisis has forced the Congress high command to take a fresh view on the candidature of Ashok Gehlot as an “official” nominee for the post of president in the upcoming organisational poll. 

Amid reports that Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and several senior leaders were hugely upset with Gehlot for the Rajasthan drama, Sonia held hectic parleys with senior party leaders, including Kamal Nath, Pawan Bansal, Ambika Soni, and AK Antony, to decide the future course of action.

Until a couple of days ago, Gehlot had been the “accepted” candidate of the high command.

Amid the suspense about Gandhi family preferred candidate, the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said AICC treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal and former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor collected the nomination forms.

Mistry said while Tharoor is in the race, Bansal might have collected it for someone else. While the nomination filing dates end on Friday, Mistry said he had no information on whether Gehlot was going to file his nomination papers.

The remark comes amid speculation that the Rajasthan Chief Minister may be dropped as a candidate for the Congress president post even as he made attempts to pacify the

Gandhis.

Gehlot spoke to Sonia and tried to explain that he had no role in rebellion by the Congress MLAs. The date for scrutiny of the nomination papers is October 1, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8.

The final list of candidates will be published at 5 pm on October 8. The polling, if needed, will be held on October 17. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 19 and the results will be declared the same day.

In the last 24 hours Sonia met several leaders, including Mistry, who handed over her QR-coded identity card for the party president’s election. He also briefed Sonia about how many people have collected the nomination forms and about the delegates.

Sonia also held meetings Ambika Soni, KC Venugopal, Girija Vyas, Mukul Wasnik, Verrappa Moily and Mohsina Kidwai whereas a separate meeting with AICC in-charge for Himachal Pradesh Rajeev Shukla and HP PCC president Pratibha Singh regarding elections in poll bound Himachal, sources said.

Mistry posed with the Congress president poll voter ID cards of Manmohan Singh, former party chief Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Mistry said he would deliver Singh’s card on Tuesday. Priyanka’s card will be delivered soon and Rahul will be handed over his card during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, he added.

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