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Shashi Tharoor, a three-term federal lawmaker who previously
served as a U.N. Under-Secretary General, said he had submitted
nomination papers to lead the 137-year-old party.
The Congress, which helped lead India's struggle for
independence from Britain that was achieved in 1947 and
dominated Indian politics for decades afterwards, has mostly
been led by a member of the Gandhi family.
Sonia Gandhi is currently the party's interim president after
her son, Rahul, resigned from the position in July 2019.
The party has seen its fortunes slide, losing two successive
general elections since 2014 at the hands of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which has also
wrested control of some states from the Congress.
The BJP has long advocated a hard right nationalist posture and
an end to what it is says is appeasement of minority groups in a
pre-dominantly Hindu India. The Congress has typically promoted
a secular polity.
Tharoor's candidacy will be challenged by veteran Congressman
Mallikarjun Kharge, currently the leader of the opposition in
India's upper house of parliament, who is also seen as a Gandhi
family loyalist.
A former state lawmaker from eastern Jharkhand state has also
filed nomination papers.
Madhusudan Mistry, the Congress official in charge of running
the party election, said the Gandhis would remain neutral. "The
Gandhi family has not endorsed anybody's nomination," Mistry
told reporters.
Around 9,000 party delegates across the country will vote for a
new Congress president on Oct. 17, with results likely to be
declared two days later.
(Reporting by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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