After the massive defeat of Congress Party in 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, one question that has gripped the senior party leaders is – should Rahul Gandhi quit as party president in the face of the drubbing that the party has received? As after the results, Rahul Gandhi has offered to resign from the post of President of Congress Party, but Congress Working Committee (CWC) has refused to accept the resignation and ask Rahul Gandhi to lead the “overhaul” of the party. Many senior leaders say this is important because only a Gandhi can lead the party, else the Congress would fall apart. However, if Rahul indeed decide o step away, here are three people who can probably do the job for the party.
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1.) Shashi Tharoor
63 years-old Tharoor has been in the news for his books and his strong stands on issues of critical political importance. He has many things rolled into one – author, top United Nations official, refugee campaigner, human rights activist, former Minister of State for External Affairs and now, a three-time elected Member of Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala. He has faced controversies ever since he started his political career in 2009 — but his successes have by and large overshadowed most of these controversies.
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2.) Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
63-year-old Chowdhury has managed to withstand the ‘Modi wave’ across the nation, is the lone Congress candidate who managed to win the Baharampur Lok Sabha seat in the Murshidabad district against the TMC’s Apurba Sarkar, with over 78,000 votes.
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3.) Amarinder Singh
73-year-old Singh has ensured Punjab lands among the best performing states in terms of seats for the Congress. In Punjab, the Congress won eight of the 13 Lok Sabha seats. At a time the Modi wave was sweeping the country with the BJP winning state after state, Singh managed to win Punjab, beating the Akali-BJP combine in the Assembly elections.
Even in 2014, Singh defeated BJP leader Arun Jaitley in a straight fight for the Amritsar Lok Sabha seat — this, despite Singh reportedly being a reluctant entrant.