Decks cleared for handover

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 20

The Congress today kickstarted the process to elect its next president, paving the way for the long-awaited generational shift in the party.

Edit: Waiting for Rahul

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi is expected to succeed his mother, Sonia Gandhi, as the Congress president next month in an uncontested process though the party announced an election schedule today, should anyone want to challenge the heir apparent.

The election will be notified on December 1. Filing of nominations will start the same day and end at 3 pm on December 4. Chairman, Congress Central Election Authority, Mullappally Ramachandran said the scrutiny of nominations will happen on December 5.

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“The last date of withdrawal will be December 11. An election, if necessary, will be held on December 16. Counting will take place and results announced on December 19,” Ramachandran added.

Unofficially the name of the next Congress president will be known after the scrutiny of forms on December 5 with party leaders expecting only one form to validate — that of Rahul Gandhi. Officially, however, the announcement will happen on December 11 in case only Gandhi is in the fray.

The election schedule was approved this morning at a brief 35-minute meeting of the Congress Working Committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi. The CWC had in November last resolved that Rahul Gandhi lead the Congress. Leaders say Sonia Gandhi thought it appropriate to call an election for wider acceptance of her son and for deference to democratic processes.

Rahul Gandhi, who was present at the CWC meet along with former PM Manmohan Singh, AK Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad among others, said nothing on the election, nor was the future role of Sonia Gandhi debated.

“Soniaji will continue to mentor the Congress although there was no discussion on her role today,” Congress media head Randeep Surjewala said when asked if the CWC discussed her contribution. He said this question should be asked on another day.

By the time the next chief takes over, Sonia would have served as Congress president for 19 years, the longest for any party chief in Congress history.

Rahul Gandhi, for his part, will be the fourth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi family to serve as Congress president once he is formally elected. The Gandhi scion will, however, be older than his father Rajiv Gandhi, who was only 41 at the time of becoming Congress president. Rahul is 47.

Congress leaders hope this December will end the suspense on the dates around his elevation.