Congress president poll: Sonia Gandhi assured party has no official candidate, to stay neutral, says Tharoor

New Delhi: Minutes after he filed his nomination for the Congress president election, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that party chief Sonia Gandhi had assured him that the party has no official candidate and that the Gandhi family will stay neutral in the race to the top post.

Congress President assured me that the party has no official candidate, the Gandhi family will stay neutral in this race & they welcome as many candidates as possible. In that spirit, I put forward my candidacy. It's not to disrespect anyone; a friendly contest: Shashi Tharoor pic.twitter.com/haqP7wZUsn

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022

Addressing a press conference after filing his papers, Tharoor said, “Congress president assured me that the party has no official candidate, the Gandhi family will stay neutral in this race and they welcome as many candidates as possible. In that spirit, I put forward my candidacy. It’s not to disrespect anyone; a friendly contest.”

Welcoming Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge’s nomination, Tharoor said that he won’t pull out of the race as he don’t want to let down party workers who supported him.

“Many candidates are needed for the party’s benefit… I won’t pull out of Congress president election as I won’t let down workers from around the country who’ve gone out of their ways to extend their support to me,” added Tharoor.

Calling his rival Kharge, who is being seen as the favourite to win, ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ of the Congress, he said, “It is a friendly contest that is going to happen. We are not enemies or rivals. No disrespect to him but I will represent my ideas.”

We're not enemies/rivals, we're colleagues & we're interested in seeing party going forward... LoP RS Mallikarjun Kharge is the 'Bhishma Pitamah' of our party. Let party workers decide how to proceed. I won't say anything negative about Kharge, Digvijaya Singh, Tripathi: Tharoor pic.twitter.com/ex0eMduKkf

— ANI (@ANI) September 30, 2022

Tharoor called Kharge, 80, a “candidate of continuity”, an apparent reference to the impression that the Karnataka leader is the choice of the Gandhis.

“I am not surprised that the establishment is rallying behind the status quo. If you want the status quo, I think you should vote for Mr. Kharge. If you want change and progress with an eye to the rest of the 21st century, then I hope I will stand for that change,” the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

“I have a vision for the Congress and I will share it with over 9,000 delegates and seek their support. My nomination papers reflect the wide range of support I have received. I have got signatures of party workers from a dozen states,” he added.

Polling for the post will take place on 17 October and the result will be announced on 19 October.

With inputs from agencies

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