‘One-man, one-post’ pledge tobe maintained, says Rahul Gandhi

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s hope that he could become the next Congress president while still holding on to his CM post was dealt a big blow while Sachin Pilot’s case for CM-ship of the state got a big boost on Thursday as Rahul Gandhi firmly declared that the party’s ‘one-man, one-post’ pledge would be maintained. Responding to queries during a press conference held between the first and second leg of the day’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said: “What we decided at Udaipur [during chintan shivir] earlier this year, we expect that commitment to be maintained.”
The comment comes a day after Gehlot– widely seen as the preferred choice of the Gandhis for the top party post– said the presidency is an elected post and the ‘one-man, one-post’ principle is for nominations.
Party sources said that Gehlot, 71, fears he will be replaced by rival Sachin Pilot, whose rebellion nearly brought down his government in 2020.
Poll schedule
Meanwhile, the Congress on Thursday issued a notification for the party president poll, setting the ball rolling for electing the successor to the longest-serving chief Sonia Gandhi, with senior leaders Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor being seen as potential contenders. According to the notification, the process for filing nominations for the election will be held from September 24 to 30. The scrutiny of the nomination papers would take place on October 1, while the last date of withdrawal of nominations would be October 8. Polling, if required, will take place on October 17. The counting of votes and the declaration of results would be on October 19.