Mallikarjun Kharge will compete with Shashi Tharoor for a seat at the top of the National Assembly
New Delhi:
When Mallikarjun Kharge officially entered the parliamentary presidential election by submitting his nomination papers today, he was surrounded by 30 leaders, including Ashok Gehlot, who was the previous head.
Mallikarjun Kharge’s entry was a last-minute turning point after Ashok Gehlot dropped out. The message was delivered to him by KC Venugopal, a trusted leader of the Gandhis.
Although the Gandhis said they would be neutral, Mallikarjun Kharge’s nomination to the Congress office makes it clear that he has the blessing of the leadership. His papers were signed by a galaxy of leaders.
Prominent among them was Ashok Gehlot, who bowed his head to leave the competition yesterday after apologizing to Sonia Gandhi for mutiny by the MLA loyal to him for reports that if he were to run for party president, His rival Sachin Pilot will replace him.
Digvijaya Singh, who was ready to submit nominations until Mr Kharge appeared, was also one of his proponents.
Others include AK Antony, Ambika Soni, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Deepender S Hooda, Salman Khurshid, V Narayanasamy and Rajiv Shukla.
Mr Kharge also received support from the leaders of the “G-23”, or group of 23 dissidents, who wrote to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 calling for major reforms within the party, including elections. nominate top positions. Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Manish Tewari, the most prominent of the dissidents who were discussing the nomination of a candidate, all supported the candidate led by the Gandhis contradiction.
This, despite one of their “dissidents”, Shashi Tharoor, running for the post of head of the National Assembly.
One name that stands out from the list is P Chidambaram.
In contrast, Shashi Tharoor has 10 backers, which is the bare minimum.
His nomination paper has 50 signatures compared to Mr Kharge’s 140.
Mr Tharoor described his opponent as the party’s “Bhishma Pitamah”.
“This is a friendly competition that will take place. We are not enemies or opponents. No disrespect to him but I will represent my ideas,” member Lok Sabha from Thiruvananthapuram told the audience. reporter.
The congress closed the nominations at 3 p.m. with three candidates. In addition to Mr. Kharge and Mr. Tharoor, KN Tripathi also submitted his documents. More than 9,100 delegates are eligible to vote in the October 17 election. Results will be announced on October 19.
