The preparations for the Congress party’s presidential elections are in full swing and the next party chief will be chosen on October 17. Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are in the fray for the party’s top post. The results of the internal party polls will be announced on October 19.

The grand old party has seen 17 party chiefs since India’s Independence. The last Congress presidential election was held in 2000.

With the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty still having a firm grip on the party’s leadership, the party is gearing up for presidential polls for the first time in 22 years. On October 19, for the first time since 1998, a non-Gandhi family member would become the party chief.

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After the unceremonious ouster of Sitaram Kesri from the post of the party president in 1998, and the departure of Sharad Pawar, P.A. Sangma and Tariq Anwar, who formed the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in 1999, Sonia Gandhi had stepped in to complete the remaining period of Kesri’s term.

Post Kesri-Sonia, the next Congress president was due to be elected in 2000. Two loyalists from the Indira Gandhi era, Rajesh Pilot and Jitendra Prasada, emerged as top contenders against Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress party was facing monumental challenges at both national and state-level elections under Sonia’s reign as interim president. Many questioned her merits to lead the pre-eminent Indian political party, pointing out her foreign origin and limited political experience at the time.

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Just ahead of the elections, Pilot died in a road accident in June 2000, leaving Prasada as the only contender against Sonia Gandhi for the top post of the party. "I have nothing personally against Sonia Gandhi, but I want recognition from party workers. I'm contesting to uphold the right to dissent and internal democracy,” he had said after announcing his candidature, reported IndiaToday.

Prasada went on a tour of the country to meet with the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates. He could have chosen to leave along with Pawar to the NCP, but he was seen as wanting to encourage reform from within the party. However, as it turned out, his candidature never amounted to much.

In the November 2020 Congress presidential polls, Sonia Gandhi trounced Prasada 7,448 votes to 94. Prasada had alleged that the election was rigged from the very beginning, but he was well aware that he would have lost, even if there was a fair vote. A couple of months later, Prasada died from a cerebral haemorrhage.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)