Ashok Gehlot or Shashi Tharoor? Opposites in many ways, what makes them answer to Cong problems, and what not | Political Pulse News,The Indian Express
Gehlot has formidable organisation experience, Tharoor has virtually none; Gehlot is seen as entrenched, Tharoor an outsider free of party's baggage. As Cong looks for a new president, those are qualities as well as drawbacks
Wednesday, Sep 21, 2022
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HomePolitical PulseAshok Gehlot or Shashi Tharoor? Opposites in many ways, what makes them answer to Cong problems, and what not
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Ashok Gehlot or Shashi Tharoor? Opposites in many ways, what makes them answer to Cong problems, and what not
Gehlot has formidable organisation experience, Tharoor has virtually none; Gehlot is seen as entrenched, Tharoor an outsider free of party's baggage. As Cong looks for a new president, those are qualities as well as drawbacks
Written by Manoj C G
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New Delhi | Updated: September 21, 2022 5:51:38 am
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor. (Facebook/Shashi Tharoor)On the face of it, there is little in common between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor, the two leaders who could face off against each other if the Congress presidential election does indeed go into a contest.
However, both the 71-year-old Gehlot and the 66-year-old Tharoor bring qualities to the table which the grand old party struggling to shake off its existential crisis needs. And these go beyond the more obvious comparisons between the two of experience versus erudition, old school ingenuity versus charisma, even simplicity versus flamboyance (as some would put it).
To begin with, Gehlot and Tharoor have reached where they are now taking diametrically different paths. Gehlot is a career politician who has risen slowly and steadily through the ranks of the Congress organisational labyrinth over five decades. Tharoor, a career diplomat and noted writer, worked with the United Nations for close to three decades, and is a lateral entrant into the party.
A patient listener, Gehlot has formidable organisational experience, is adept in the art of realpolitik, and is well-versed with the intricacies and complexities of the Congress set-up. Once the president of the party’s students’ wing NSUI, Gehlot has been a general secretary at the centre, headed the Rajasthan Congress, been in-charge of several states for the party, was general secretary, Organisation, before K C Venugopal, is a three-time CM in a party that has few of those left, as well as a five-time Lok Sabha MP, and commands the respect of both the Congress’s older generation and the youth.
Plus, Gehlot has worked with almost the entire top leadership of the party and several generations of the Gandhi family. He served as minister in the Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao governments, was considered a close confidant of Sanjay Gandhi, made an easy transition to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi after Sanjay’s death, and now has the trust of Rahul.
Rating: 5