In Latest Swipe, BJP Dubs Congress President Polls 'Fake,' 'Remote Controlled by Gandhis'

The process to elect a new chief of India's main opposition party, Congress, will commence on Saturday with contestants filing their nominations for the post. While there are many contenders in the fray, Rajasthan State Chief Ashok Gehlot is widely considered the strongest due to his closeness with Sonia and Rahul Gandhi.

India's federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) took a fresh dig at the Congress on Friday, declaring that its polls to elect a new party president were "fake" and were "remote controlled" by the all-powerful Gandhi family.

Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving Congress chief, having first been elected to the post in 1998. She stepped down for a brief period from 2017 to 2019, when Rahul Gandhi was elected as chief of the party.

After Rahul stepped down from the position three years ago, taking responsibility for the party's second consecutive defeat to the BJP in parliamentary elections, Sonia stepped in, becoming the interim chief. She has been leading the party in that capacity since then.

The BJP's strong reaction to Congress' presidential polls came after Ashok Gehlot, who heads the government in Rajasthan state, was asked if he would resign from his post in case he became the party boss.

"Party president Sonia Gandhi will decide further proceedings (for Rajasthan) along with general secretary in-charge Ajay Maken when I become the party president," Gehlot told reporters in Kerala.

Gehlot's reply, however, gave ammunition to the BJP to blast the Congress.

Slamming Gehlot's statement, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla asked on Twitter: "What capacity will she have? She will be the ex-president! Should not the Congress lawmakers decide their State Chief? If Gandhis will have the remote control then why is this 'Farzi chunav (fake election)?"

"This is the proof that the next president of Congress will be a proxy of the Gandhis and will be remotely controlled by Gandhis like Manmohan Singh was remotely controlled by Sonia Gandhi," the BJP spokesperson added.

Earlier in the day, Gehlot had confirmed that no member of the Gandhi family will contest the polls. He also stated that he will be one of the candidates.

"It's decided that I'll contest (for the post of Congress President). I'll fix the date soon (to file nomination). It's a need for the Opposition to be strong, looking at the current position of the country," Gehlot said.

Elections for Congress president will be held on October 17, and the winner will be declared two days later. Nominations for the post can be filed on September 24-30.