Sources close to Shashi Tharoor told South First that the Thiruvananthapuram MP was rallying support before filing nominations next week.
Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor at South First's Dakshin Dialogues 2022 in Hyderabad on Saturday, 17 September, 2022. (South First)
Shashi Tharoor, the Congress’ Lok Sabha member from Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, is gearing up to file his nomination for the AICC presidential elections.
Sources close to the diplomat-turned-politician told South First that Tharoor would file his nomination papers next week.
On Saturday, Shashi Tharoor’s representatives arrived at the AICC headquarters to collect nomination forms.
The confirmation from Tharoor’s close circles came on the day Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot made an official statement that he would contest for the top Congress post.
The Congress is set to witness elections to the post of AICC president after 22 years.
While several names — including those of Kamal Nath, Digvijaya Singh, and Manish Tewari — have been making the rounds as probable contenders, with Gehlot’s official announcement and Tharoor decision to file nomination, the contest is set to be between the two influential leaders.
For a majority of Congress workers, the AICC presidential election would perhaps seem like a faceoff between the “Gandhi-Nehru family loyalist” Gehlot and “dissenting reformist” Shashi Tharoor.
Most of that perception comes from Tharoor being one of the signatories of the Congress G-23 group that sought sweeping reforms in the party in 2020, something that Gehlot publicly condemned.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP has been keen on shedding that anti-Gandhi-family or anti-Congress image.
Reiterating his stance on the revival of the Congress being the key to strengthening it, Tharoor has kept his social media pages abuzz with recalled articles of his vision for Congress.
The Gandhi family has repeatedly made it clear within party circles that its members would neither contest the polls nor back any candidate.
While Gehlot — given his proximity to the Nehru-Gandhi family and long years of association with the party — is confident of emerging as the “natural option” for those clamouring for Rahul Gandhi’s return as party president, Tharoor is banking on an undercurrent of “yearning for change” within the party to help him sail through.
Some 9,000 delegates, elected to every block in Pradesh Congress Committees across the country, are eligible to vote in the AICC presidential polls.
With Congress leaders from Kerala — Tharoor’s home turf — turning up their noses at his initiative to contest, the MP is looking for support elsewhere.
Over the weekend, Tharoor is expected to be busy making phone calls and calling on party colleagues to rally support.
South First has learnt that former Union minister Pallam Raju is among the Congress leaders making representations on Tharoor’s behalf to whip up support.
It is for this reason that the Lok Sabha member will wait until next week to make a quick assessment of his chances and file his nomination.
Although he hasn’t officially announced his candidature, Tharoor left his intentions unsaid with a late-night tweet on Thursday.
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 22, 2022
The notification to the AICC presidential election schedule was issued on Thursday by the Congress Central Election Authority’s Chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
The window to file nominations will be open from Saturday, 24 September, to Friday, 30 September, between 11 am and 3 pm at the AICC office.
Elections for the post are scheduled to be held on 17 October at the headquarters of all Pradesh Congress Committees.
If more than one candidate goes ahead with their nomination and elections are held, Congress will have a new President on 19 October.
With these elections, the Congress could hope to solve at least a few of the issues that have been bogging it down from within.
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