Pilot Files Nomination, Race For Congress Presidentship Hots Up

The contest for the post of the Congress president hotted up yesterday with party working committee member Rajesh Pilot filing his nomination for the top party post, asserting that an election was necessary as consensus always throws up a weak person as leader .

My fight is not against party chief Sitaram Kesri as an individual. But Kesri cannot rejuvenate the party , Pilot told reporters soon after filing his nomination at the AICC headquarters on the penultimate day of filing papers.

The former Union minister also released a five-point programme for rejuvenating the party, including eradication of corruption and criminality and washing of the stigma of December six, 1992.

Pilot is the second party leader to file his nomination for the top party post. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister A R Antulay, a known critic of Kesri, submitted his nomination papers on Monday. While Antulay s filing of nomination was a low-key affair, Pilot came in a huge procession to the party headquarters.

Answering a volley of questions, Pilot declared that he intended to be in the fray till the last.

Asked his reaction over the possible filing of nomination by senior leader, Sharad Pawar today, Pilot said: More the merrier. I will continue to be a candidate . The party chief, Sitaram Kesri, is also expected to file his nomination today.

Asserting that a leader thrown up by consensus would not be able to take hard decisions needed for revitalising the party, Pilot said a collective leadership could emerge only through election.

Pilot was accompanied by former Union minister Salman Khurshid when he submitted his nomination to AICC general secretary Oscar Fernandes, the returning officer for the election scheduled for June 9. The last date for withdrawal is June 2.

Pilot said the nomination filed by him was proposed by 10 PCC delegates from Rajasthan including some MLAs. This was because the lists of PCC delegates from several other states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra have not not been finalised, he said.

He said he intended to file more sets of nomination papers, proposed by his supporters from several other states, today.

The former Union minister said that from June one he would be touring various states along with Khurshid and party MP K P Singh Deo to explain why he is contesting the election.

The last contest witnessed for the Congress presidentship was in 1977 between Brahmanand Reddy and Siddharth Shanker Ray. It was, however, not a regular election but one necessiated by the resignation of Devkant Barua.

The Congress president is elected by PCC delegates who number around 7,500. These delegates also elect the PCC chiefs and AICC members.