#Congress president Polls : Interim president Sonia Gandhi Gives Nod To Shashi Tharoor To Contest

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Senior Congress leader and Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Shashi Tharoor has reportedly received the nod from interim Congress president Sonia Gandhi to contest in the upcoming poll for the party president’s post, sources said.

Tharoor received interim-party president Sonia Gandhi’s go ahead after he met her in the capital.

According to sources and reported by ANI , Tharoor, during the meeting, expressed his wish to contest the elections scheduled to be held on October 17 to “make internal democracy” in the party stronger. Gandhi, in response, giving her nod to the Thiruvananthapuram MP and said that anybody can contest elections.

The meeting with Sonia Gandhi took place after Tharoor welcomed a petition seeking party reforms. “I welcome this petition that is being circulated by a group of young @INCIndia members, seeking constructive reforms in the Party. It has gathered over 650 signatures so far. I am happy to endorse it & go beyond it. https://memo.withinc.in”, Tharoor had tweeted.

Earlier, in his article in a Malayalam daily on presidential elections, he said that people are free to speculate whether he would contest for the top post in the party.

Tharoor said, “The point I put forward in the article is that elections are a good thing for the party. A democratic country like ours needs a democratic party. I welcome Congress’s decision to conduct polls. People are free to speculate as they like.”

Reacting to Tharoor’s nod by Sonia Gandhi , Sources close to Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot as quoted by ANI say , rather than thinking of running for Congress President he is trying to persuade Rahul Gandhi to do so. He remains a loyal soldier of Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

Anybody who wants to contest (for the post of Congress pres) is free & welcome to do so. This has been the consistent position of Sonia Gandhi & Rahul Gandhi. This is an open, democratic and transparent process. Nobody needs anybody’s nod to contest, Congress General Secretary Incharge of Communication Jairam Ramesh while speaking to ANI.