As the Congress party begins polls to elect its next president, the plot around who will be the new office bearer thickens. Reportedly, the new entrant to the grand old party's race is senior leader Kamal Nath now. With his name on the list, a total of five tall Congress leaders are now eyeing the presidential post.
Union Minister Shashi Tharoor and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot were two names that initially came to the fore. The latest development, however, projects that former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath may join the contest.
An NDTV report quoted their sources saying that Nath is "being considered" for the post and is likely to contest the polls. The list however does not stop at him.
According to the report, former Union Ministers Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Mallikarjun Kharge and Siddaramaiah are being projected as potential candidates. However, the report quoted sources saying that both Chavan and Wasnik have said they will not be contesting.
After the refusal of the Gandhi family to enter the race for the post of president, KC Venugopal, Kumari Selja, and Bhupesh Baghel were also considered as possible choices. Digvijaya Singh too projected himself as a potential candidate.
The process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The scrutiny of the nomination papers would take place on October 1, while the last date of withdrawal of nominations would be October 8. The final list of candidates would be published at 5 PM on the day.
Polling, if required, will take place on October 17. The counting of votes and the declaration of results would be on October 19.
After over two decades, the Congress is set to see a contest for the post of party chief.
The upcoming polls would certainly be historic as the new president would replace Sonia Gandhi, the longest-serving party president who has been at the helm since 1998, barring the two years between 2017 and 2019 when Rahul Gandhi took over.
With PTI inputs
