India’s Congress likely to get first non-Gandhi chief
India's main opposition Congress party is likely to elect a new party president from outside the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for the first time in nearly 25 years, as it looks for a reset ahead of the next election to compete with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Formed 137 years ago during India's struggle for independence from Britain, Congress was thumped by Modi's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last two general elections. Many senior Congress leaders have quit to form their own party or to join the BJP, blaming the weak Congress leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Around 9,000 party delegates will vote for a new president. Gandhi family loyalist Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan state, and Shashi Tharoor, a lawmaker from the southern state of Kerala and a former top UN official, could file nominations this week, party sources said. "The election authority of the party started the election process on Sept. 22 for which polling will happen on Oct. 17 if there is more than one candidate," said Pranav Jha, secretary at the Congress's Election Authority.
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