Congress President Election: Shashi Tharoor to File Nomination on 30 Sept

Shashi Tharoor will file his nomination to contest in the Congress president election on 30 September at 11 am

By Rohini Rajhansh Last updated Sep 28, 2022

Shashi Tharoor will file his nomination for the Congress president election (HT_PRINT)

Despite the alleged low support for his Congress presidential bid, Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will file his nomination at 11 am on 30 September to contest in the party president elections. According to the Congress president poll in-charge Madhusudan Mistry, Shashi Tharoor’s representative has informed that he will file his nomination on 30 September at 11 am.

Speaking with reporters at his office at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi, Madhusudan Mistry said he met party chief Sonia Gandhi at her 10 Janpath residence on Tuesday and handed over her voter’s ID card. He also briefed Gandhi about the process so far as to how many people have collected the nomination forms and about the delegates.

Amid the suspense over who could take on Shashi Tharoor in the Congress presidential election, Madhusudan Mistry on Tuesday said AICC treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal had collected nomination forms, adding that it may be for someone else.

According to a notification issued by the party, the process for filing nominations for the election of the Congress president started on 24 September and continues till 30. The date for scrutiny of the nomination papers is 1 October, while the last date for withdrawal of nominations is 8 October.

The final list of candidates will be published at 5 pm on 8 October. Polling for the Congress presidential election will be held on 17 October and the counting of the votes has been scheduled for 19 October. The Congress president election results will be declared on the same day.

Low Support for Shashi Tharoor from Party Leaders

As the name of Shashi Tharoor for the Congress president election started doing the rounds, some party leaders either disapproved of his candidature or some thought he wouldn’t contest at all.

Congress Kerala MP Kodikunnil Suresh earlier said that Shashi Tharoor is an international man and he doesn’t think the Thiruvananthapuram MP would contest the Congress presidential polls. K Suresh also said that they are also requesting Rahul Gandhi to become the Congress chief.

“Shashi Tharoor is an international man. There should be a consensus candidate. We are still requesting Rahul Gandhi to become Congress president,” he said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Gourav Vallabh had hit out at Shashi Tharoor over his then probable AICC president poll bid, saying his “only major contribution” to the party was to send letters to Sonia Gandhi when she was hospitalised.

What Does Shashi Tharoor say?

Between all this, Shashi Tharoor has claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.

“You will see the support I enjoy when I submit my nomination paper. I will be in the fray if I get support from party workers from the majority of the states. So many people from different parts of the country have requested me to be in the fray,” Shashi Tharoor told reporters reacting to a query on his candidature for the Congress president’s post.

“I have got the form. I am meeting people and talking to them,” Shashi Tharoor said.

Read more about the current affairs and updates in Indian politics and scenarios.