Congress party never had serious election for president post, believed in a consensus candidate

The Congress party is going to hold organisational polls on the October 17 to elect a new president as it attempts to revive its sagging political fortunes.

This will be the first time in 22 years that the party will elect a new president. The last time the grand old party held an election, Sonia Gandhi had beaten Jitendra Prasad by a massive margin to become the president.

This time, none of the Gandhi family members are in the fray so far. However many state congress units have backed Rahul Gandhi's return as the Congress chief.

Sources say Shashi Tharoor has received a go ahead from Sonia Gandhi to run for the post, Ashok Gehlot is likely to contest. Senior leader Jairam Ramesh has said that anybody is free to contest, it is an open process and no permission is required. According to sources several senior leaders as well are considering running for the post.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Sandeep Shastri, Vice Chancellor at Jagran Lakecity University said, “We have never had a serious election for a party president in the Congress party. The Congress has always believed in a consensus approach because they have believed consensus is the way you maintain the unity of the party.”

He added, “In this round, a lot of people are talking about the need for a consensus candidate to maintain the unity of the party. So with all this debate, I think it is still early days to say whether it will be a real contest, or like Sonia Gandhi versus. Jitendra Prasad or will it be just a formal contest - I think we have to wait and watch and see.”

However, Shastri believes there is a definitiveness about at least some change happening in the Congress party if Rahul Gandhi is not going to be the candidate.

Sanjay Jha, a political analyst speaking to CNBC-TV18 said, “These are very positive developments for the grand old party, which has been at the receiving end of a lot of electoral dropping and organizational atrophy for a long time. There have been serious questions raised even on the leadership capabilities of the party over the last eight years in particular. So I think one has to look at what I call the salutary ramifications of the steps being taken.”

Jha believes the Congress party is now pushing the envelope.

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