Will he, won't he? Here's what Shashi Tharoor said on contesting Congress presidential polls

There is never a dull moment when Thiruvananthapuram Congress Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor speaks or writes and it was no different this time when he aired his opinion in a vernacular daily on the need for a “free and fair” contest to the Congress president post.

As soon as the article became public, it gave rise to speculation that he might throw his hat in the ring to contest for the top post.

On a question by reporters about the party’s presidential polls, Tharoor said: “People are free to speculate as they like. All I've written in my article is that elections are a good thing for the party... Beyond that, I have not made any announcement.”

“I welcome the fact that the Congress party has announced an election and is going to be conducting it openly, freely and fairly... The process is some weeks away... let's wait for some time and see how it evolves,” he added. 

On his plans to venture into state politics, Tharoor said: "All options are open. I'm a Lok Sabha MP. My focus in politics has been national and international so far. If one day vistas open up, one doesn't want to say no."

Reacting to reports of Tharoor contemplating running for the post of Congress president, the party on Tuesday said anybody who wants to contest can do so.

Asked about it, Congress spokesperson Gourav Vallabh said, "I am not aware of anything like that but I understand that we announced our election schedule and given the dates of filing nomination, counting, and result."

"All dates are mentioned in the election schedule. So if anybody wants to do that (contest), the dates are there. I don't want to say anything more on this. The dates are there, the Constitution of the Congress is there, whatever you deem appropriate, you do it," he said.

In the article, he has said ideally the party should have announced elections also for the dozen seats on the CWC itself which are supposed to be elected.

"Allowing members of the party drawn from the AICC and PCC delegates to determine who will lead the party from these key positions, would have helped legitimize the incoming set of leaders and give them a credible mandate to lead the party," said Tharoor, who was among the group of 23 leaders who wrote to Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in 2020 seeking organisational reforms.

"Still, electing a fresh president is a start towards the revitalisation the Congress badly needs," the MP from Thiruvananthapuram said.

Tharoor said the election also has other beneficial effects -- for instance, "we have seen the global interest in the British Conservative Party during their recent leadership race, a phenomenon we already witnessed in 2019, when a dozen candidates contested to replace Theresa May, and Boris Johnson emerged on top".

Replicating a similar scenario for the Congress will similarly increase the national interest in the party and galvanise more voters towards the Congress party once again, he said in the article.

"For this reason, I hope that several candidates come forward to present themselves for consideration. Putting forward their visions for the party and the nation will surely stir public interest," he wrote.

Meanwhile, one will have to wait a bit to know if Tharoor is actually in the contest as the last date for filing of the nomination to the top post is September 30, according to the notification that has been brought out by AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal.

Things are likely to become clearer in the coming days as Rahul Gandhi`s `Bharat Jodo Yatra`, will kick off from Kanyakumari on September 7 and reach the Kerala border on September 11. It will cover 43 Assembly constituencies and 12 Lok Sabha and will cover 453 kms in 19 days.