Tharoor plays the waiting game

Thiruvananthapuram: Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said he was not ready to rule out whether he is in the fray or not for the election to the AICC president post. “In another three weeks everything will be clear. I can give you clarity on this only then. I am not ready to comment more on this now,” Tharoor said.
“I will not say whether I am contesting or not. I say that election is always good in a democratic party,” he said. Tharoor also said already the Gandhi family has made it clear that none from their family will be contesting. It is good to have a president from outside the Gandhi family, he added.
Speculations are rife that Tharoor will be in the fray if none from the Gandhi family is contesting and Ashok Gehlot is fielded as the nominee of the Gandhi family. In a recent article written by Tharoor in a vernacular daily, he had said that there should be a free and fair election in the party. He had also suggested that instead of nominations, the Congress working committee members should also be elected. He had said that electing a fresh president is a start towards rejuvenating the party, which it needs badly. “Elections will be good for the Congress, that’s what I have to say now,” Tharoor said.
AICC leader Jairam Ramesh, who was in the city as part of the campaign for the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said that the AICC election schedule has been fixed and anyone can contest the elections in the party. “On October 17, we will have a new president for the party. Whoever wants to contest can contest in the election. Congress is a democratic party,” said Ramesh.