Days ahead of the launch of Bharat Jodo Yatra, it is getting increasingly clear that Rahul Gandhi is unlikely to file nominations for the Congress president election, with a senior functionary saying that it would be difficult for a party chief to go on such a ‘padayatra’ as there will be other important tasks to attend to.
Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal on Monday said Rahul Gandhi has made it clear to them that he is not planning to fight the organisation election and that none from the family also will be contesting for the post.
His comments to a Malayalam news channel came days after he made similar comments in Kerala’s Alappuzha on August 31 when he told reporters, “Rahul has said that he will not contest.”
On Monday when asked whether it would have been better had the ‘yatra’ been started after the election of the party chief and under his leadership, Venugopal said that Rahul is the most important and popular leader of the party to lead the yatra.
“This is a 3,570-km yatra…One will have to give full time to the yatra. If a new Congress president assumes office, there are several other tasks to do. The Congress president cannot be a full time ‘yatri’,” Venugopal, who is considered close to Rahul, said.
Though Rahul has expressed his reluctance to return to the post, there has been clamour from several quarters for the Gandhi scion to become the party chief. At the Congress rally on Sunday, leader after leader were praising his leadership skills.
With Rahul unlikely to be in the electoral fight, the official faction is looking at Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot as a potential candidate while G-23 leader or change-seeker Shashi Tharoor is exploring options to contest.
Interestingly, Tharoor met Gehlot in the national capital on Sunday. Sources said Gehlot wanted unity to be ensured in the party to enable it to effectively counter the RSS-BJP. Gehlot is also learnt to have a meeting with Haryana leader Bhupinder Hooda. Tharoor on Sunday had tweeted after the rally hailing Rahul's "strong speech".