New Delhi: The race for the Congress president’s election is getting tougher. At a time, MP Shashi Tharoor got a rival in Digvijay Singh, it has also become clear that Rajisthan CM Ashok Gehlot will not contest the election.
Following this, Sachin Pilot has come to meet party president Sonia Gandhi. He later said that he won’t abandoned the party.
The last date for filing nominations for the Congress president’s election is September 30, which means tomorrow is the last day for filing nominations. Before that, on Thursday, former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh also joined the race. He took the nomination papers for himself from the party’s Central Election Authority (CEA) and said he would file his nomination on September 30.
Earlier on Thursday, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot met Congress President Sonia Gandhi at her residence at 10 Janpath. This was Gehlot’s first meeting with Sonia Gandhi after the feud in the Rajasthan Congress. After this meeting, Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced not to contest the Congress president election.
“I met Rahul Gandhi in Kochi and requested him to contest (for Congress president). When he refused, I said I will contest, but now with that incident (political crisis in Rajasthan), I have decided not to contest.”
Ashok Gehlot also apologised to Sonia Gandhi for the ruckus created by his loyalists in Rajasthan. “What happened in the state in the last two days has shocked everyone. I had a conversation with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and apologised to her for what happened two days ago.”