Amid speculations that he may contest elections for Congress president, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Tuesday night called a meeting of Congress MLAs at his official residence in Jaipur. The meeting will begin at 10 pm after a dinner which is being hosted for Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, news agency PTI reported citing sources.
Some Congress leaders said that the ongoing assembly session will be discussed during the meeting.
Gehlot, who is being seen as a top contender for the post of Congress president, will leave for Delhi on Wednesday. The process of filing nominations for organisational elections will begin on September 24 and will end on September 30.
Gehlot, however, had sought to play down reports about him being the frontrunner and has been saying that he will put efforts till the last minute to convince Rahul Gandhi to contest the polls. Rajasthan Congress recently passed a resolution backing Rahul Gandhi as party president again.
Congress will hold polls to elect its president on October 17. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8 and the votes will be counted on October 19.
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Amid buzz over the Congress president elections and its prospective candidates, party interim chief Sonia Gandhi met general secretary KC Venugopal on Tuesday evening at her 10 Janpath residence in Delhi.
Venugopal termed it a “routine meeting” to discuss pending organisational issues and said that “anybody can contest” the poll which will be “free and fair as well as transparent” when asked about it by the media. The meeting between the two leaders came at a time when Shashi Tharoor and Ashok Gehlot are being seen as the contenders to enter the fray.
(With PTI inputs)
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