Team Herald
NEW DELHI: The Congress is contemplating a grand show here on December 12 for anointment of 47-year old Rahul Gandhi as the new party president, a day after close of withdrawals.
It could be even a special session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) that can be called at a short notice under Article XVII of the Congress constitution.
All those from the states, who wanted to stay back to celebrate Rahul’s final ascent to be the party president, were personally told by him to better go home and return only on December 10 for the celebrations. Party sources said these celebrations are planned on December 12.
No surprise, even after the scrutiny, Central Election Authority chairman Mullappally Ramachandran, a Lok SabhaMP from Kerala who is also the returning officer for the Congress President election, did not declare Rahul elected unopposed.
In a scrutiny report, he said all 89 nomination papers were found valid and “there is now only one validly nominated candidate, i.e. Shri Rahul Gandhi, left in the fray for the election of Congress President.”
When there is only one candidate left, he is automatically declared elected uncontested, but Ramachandran refused to do so, pointing out that the poll process is still on as the withdrawals are allowed up to December 11.
He is apparently acting on the High Command’s diktat to make the final announcement only on December 11, so as to put Rahul in the saddle the next day with a bang to have an impact in the second phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections.
There was a joke going on in the AICC headquarters that Rahul may repeat the 2004 act of his mother Sonia Gandhi who withdrew herself after all in the Congress had reposed faith in him to be the prime minister. Will Rahul too give the mantle to a senior and who could be that senior were the questions debated.
The party leaders, however, rule out such an absurd speculation, pointing out that it will be then difficult to complete the process of electing the new President as the party is already on the Election Commission’s notice to complete the party elections by December end.
Meanwhile, the cyclonic conditions in Gujarat hit the helicopter hopping of both Prime Minister Modi and Rahul Gandhi, forcing them to cancel some of their public meetings.
A Congress spokesman here said Rahul’s Ajnar rally in Kutch district was delayed and he had to cancel his three other public meetings on Tuesday as well as all programmes on Wednesday “due to bad weather conditions.”
“His entire prorammes on 7th are shifted to 8th Dec,” the spokesman added. The election campaign of the first phase is supposed to close on the evening of December 7 and so Rahul will be able to campaign on December 8 only in the constituencies going to polls in the second phase/
