Congress president poll: Jairam Ramesh bats for consensus; upholds 'prominence' of Nehru-Gandhi family

With the process for electing the new Congress president round the corner senior party leader Jairam Ramesh has batted for consensus in selecting the new AICC chief and sought to uphold the prominence of the NehruGandhi family in the organisational matters in any sort of emerging situationRamesh the AICC general secretary incharge Communication Publicity and Media said even if somebody else is elected as the party chief in the October 17 polls Sonia Gandhi will continue to be a person everybody looks up to and insisted Rahul Gandhi will be the ideological compass of the grand old organisationHe rejected the suggestion the Wayanad MP will do backseat driving in the event of somebody else being a Congress president hailing the Gandhi scion as a very accommodative and democratic personA party without a high command would be anarchy he saidIn an interview to PTI the former Union Minister also opposed a section of Congress leaders argument against its high command culture claiming that there will be anarchy in a party without such a mechanismTo buttress his arguments for a unanimous election of the new AICC chief Ramesh invoked the view of legendary Congress leader K Kamaraj which according to him is talk to everybody and find a suitable consensus choice for leading the partyIn the history of the Indian National Congress generally weve selected people by consensus But there had been electionsin 1938 1950 1997 and 2000 But my view is that of a broad consensusthe Kamaraj view I belong to the Kamaraj school said Ramesh a key Congress strategist as the Rahul Gandhiled Bharat Jodo Yatra reached near Kollam district in KeralaThe notification for the election will be issued on September 22 while the filing of nomination would begin on September 24 and continue till September 30 The election if there is more than one candidate will take place on October 17 while counting of votes if necessary and the declaration of results would be on October 19When asked about the argument of a section of party leaders including Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor that a democratic contest for the Congress presidents post will revitalise the Congress Ramesh said if a consensus is not possible we should have electionsMr Tharoor is welcome to contest Its democratic process We are the only political party which has elections to the post of PresidentAlso Read Strong Congress important pillar of Opposition unity Jairam RameshRamesh also took an indirect dig at Tharoor and the leaders who argue for organisational reforms and election to the party presidents post terming as unrealistic the thinking that the Congress party or any other party in India should be run along the lines of Labour and Conservative parties in the UKIt is being unrealistic I think that the people who say this dont understand the realities of India the senior Rajya Sabha MP saidResponding to a query on the growing demand in the party for electing Rahul Gandhi as AICC chief Ramesh said the former Congress president was in a peculiar position on the matter and it was up to him to decide whether to contest the polls or notPeople are asking him Rahul now why are you a candidate Are you a candidate At the end of the process of filing nomination the same people could ask him why are you not a candidate Mr Gandhi is in a peculiar position It is up to him I have no knowledge what he is going to do he said adding that currently the focus of Gandhi and the party is on the Bharat Jodo YatraRamesh said when he had discussed the matters of the organisational elections with Rahul Gandhi on two or three occasions he has always told mewhy not have electionswhy not people contestIf people want to file their nomination papers they are welcome to do so He Rahul himself has said this I welcome elections the AICC general secretary saidRejecting the arguments of Tharoor and a few other members of the old G23 groupings on the need of reducing or eliminating the High Command culture in the Congress party Ramesh said every party has a high command and they call it in different namesDo you think the BJP doesnt have a high command Do you think the CPIM doesnt have a high command Every party has a high command Every party has a group of people who discuss deliberate decide based on various factors A party without high command will be anarchy he saidWhen asked who will be the Congress high command if a new president from outside the NehruGandhi family is elected as party chief Ramesh said these are hypothetical questions now but said he was sure that both Sonia and Rahul will continue to be respected and people will look up to themMrs Sonia Gandhi is a person everybody looks up to She will continue to be a person everybody looks up to Mr Rahul Gandhi is Member of Parliament and he is on a five month long Bharat Jodo Yatra So he will be very prominent He will be an ideological compass he saidPressed further Ramesh said Rahul Gandhi will not do backseat driving of the organisation in the event of somebody else coming to the helm of affairsI dont see that I think circumstances have changed and Mr Gandhi is a person with strong views on issues He is also a very accommodative very democratic person So is Sonia Gandhi herself So I dont think that there is going to be any friction I dont think there is going to be any tension he addedHis statement came as the Rahul Gandhiled Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress has started energising the party workersIt is not Congress jodo yatra It is Congress urja bringing in new energy and enthusiasm I think what we are trying to do is to provide the Congress workers at the block district and state levels a sense of excitement he saidIt was not a small yatraIt is entirely on foot and almost 3600 kms 150 days No political party has done this he assertedThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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