Earlier in the day, the Thiruvananthapuram MP had endorsed a petition calling for 'constructive reforms' in the Congress.
Shashi Tharoor at Dakshin Dialogues by South First in Hyderabad. (South First)
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor met AICC interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday, 19 September, setting political circles abuzz. The meeting came amid rumours that the Thiruvananthapuram MP was seeking to contest the AICC presidential election scheduled for 17 October.
Soon after the meeting, there were multiple reports that he would contest the election after interim president Sonia Gandhi welcomed the idea and assured him of a free and fair contest. She also reportedly said there would be no High Command-backed candidate.
Tharoor himself did not confirm or deny the reports.
He was unreachable when South First sought to confirm that he was ready to throw his hat in the ring when nominations for the election opened.
On Saturday, 17 September, when asked during South First‘s “Dakshin Dialogues 2022″ conclave whether he would contest the election, a smirking Tharoor said: “Let the nomination filing process begin.”
Tharoor’s meeting with Sonia Gandhi came on a day when Congress units of four more states, including Tamil Nadu and Jammu and Kashmir, passed resolutions urging that Rahul Gandhi be made party president, taking the total number of states voicing the demand to seven.
In the event of a contest, Tharoor is likely to be up against veteran Congress leader and Gandhi family loyalist Ashok Gehlot. The outcome would see the first non-Gandhi family Congress president in over two decades.
Hours before the meeting, Tharoor put out a tweet endorsing a petition seeking “constructive reforms” in the party. He claimed that the petition was circulated by young members of his party, and that it had gathered over 650 signatories so far.
“I welcome this petition that is being circulated by a group of young @INCIndia members, seeking constructive reforms in the Party. It has gathered over 650 signatures so far. I am happy to endorse it & to go beyond it, [sic]” Tharoor’s tweet read.
He also added a link to endorse/reject the petition, as well as images of the petition itself, along with the tweet.
I welcome this petition that is being circulated by a group of young @INCIndia members, seeking constructive reforms in the Party. It has gathered over 650 signatures so far. I am happy to endorse it & to go beyond it. https://t.co/2yPViCDv0v pic.twitter.com/waGb2kdbTu
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) September 19, 2022
The petition, dated September 2022, states that the petitioners are members of the Congress with a desire to strengthen the party to reflect the hopes and aspirations of the nation.
The petition emphasises the importance of the Udaipur NavSankalp Declaration, which was formulated on 15 May, and lays down a few of the tenets of the Declaration.
Regarding ideological perspective, the petition seeks to follow “the Gandhian values with strict adherence to Babasaheb Ambedkar’s Constitutional values and the idea of a secular India, avoiding hard and soft religious fundamentalism”.
According to the signatories, there needs to be a reservation to increase the representation of women, SCs, STs, OBCs, and minorities in party positions and electoral tickets.
It also suggests organisational reforms like 50 percent party positions for those below 50 years of age, term limits for electoral and party positions, one person one post, and one family one ticket, to open up the party for more people to be office-bearers.
Regarding an economic doctrine, the petition seeks to “build a fair, just and equitable economy to remove extreme poverty and bring prosperity to all sections of society“.
They also appeal to each candidate contesting elections to undertake a public pledge to involve party members from block committees up to the CWC and implement the Udaipur Declaration in its entirety within the first 100 days of assuming office.
On 9 September, five MPs including Tharoor wrote to the Congress’ Central Election Authority (CEA) chief Madhusudan Mistry to publish the electoral rolls for the party’s presidential elections.
Along with Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi, and Abdul Khaleque urged the chairman to make the electoral rolls public and ensure transparency in the elections.
Mistry, in his response to the MPs, made clear that the contestants who filed nominations for the presidential elections would be able to see the full list of 9,000 delegates at the AICC central election authority office from 20 September.
He added that QR-code-based identity cards would be issued to delegates across all the states and Union Territories.
On 24 August, 2020, a letter by Congress leaders appeared in the public domain. Twenty-three senior Congress leaders wrote the letter — addressed to interim party chief Sonia Gandhi — requesting active leadership and organisational reformations.
Tharoor was one of the signatories of the letter. However, it is assumed that the resignation of senior leaders — including Ghulam Nabi Azad and Kapil Sibal — from the party put the remaining leaders of the G-23 in jeopardy and brought them closer to the Congress high command.
A report published in The Hindu on 23 August said Rahul Gandhi was reluctant to become the party chief again.
As Sonia Gandhi is not in good health, she had requested Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot to lead the party.
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