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Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Friday said that he will be contesting the upcoming Congress Presidential election. in a video, Gehlot was seen saying, "It's decided that I'll contest (for the post of Congress President). I'll fix the date soon (to file his nomination)".
On Rahul Gandhi's statement regarding "One Person, One Post" Gehlot, who is the chief minister of Rajasthan at present, said the onus to decide is on Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken and Party chief Sonia Gandhi.
He added that a strong opposition is required in the country to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP government. And he also said it does not affects him who will be the new Congress chief, what matters is the party becomes stronger at ground level.
Gehlot, who is in Kerala to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, "I said earlier that I will request him (Rahul Gandhi) to accept this post when all the Congress Committees are passing resolutions in this regard. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will become the next chief. He said he has decided this due to some reasons, a non-Gandhi family member will become the party chief".
At present, reports are Gehlot and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will be contesting against each for the post of new President of Congress. He met Congress Central Election Authority chief Madhusudan Mistry on Wednesday.
Congress' presidential post-election will be held on October 17 and the election results would be declared on October 19. The nomination process for the post of Congress president will begin on September 24 and conclude on September 30.
The upcoming poll 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.
The party last saw a contest for the post in November 2000. Jitendra Prasada had lost to Sonia Gandhi in 2000 and prior to that Sitaram Kesri had defeated Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot in 1997.