Rahul Gandhi set for elevation after emerging as ‘only candidate’ for Congress’ president post

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi is all set to become the party president after he emerged as the sole and unopposed claimant to the post on Wednesday.

After scrutinising the 89 nominations filed on his behalf by several party leaders yesterday, the party’s returning officer for the election said he was the only validly nominated candidate.

“There is now only one validly nominated candidate, that is Shri Rahul Gandhi,” returning officer Mullappally Ramachandran said.

The old guard exuded confidence in his leadership and said he would steer the party to greater heights.

While former prime minister Manmohan Singh yesterday described him as the “darling of the Congress”, Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh said he would make a “good future prime minister”.

Ramachandran, who is also the chairman of the party’s Central Election Authority which is conducting the internal polls, said a total of 89 nomination papers were received, all proposing Rahul Gandhi’s name.

All the nominations were found to be valid after the scrutiny today.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is December 11, when the returning officer will declare him elected as the new Congress president.

Earlier today BJP’s bickering ally Shiv Sena also implied that Rahul’s recent poll campaign had transformed him into a leader.

“The polls have proved that Rahul Gandhi is not a Pappu anymore. The BJP should have a big heart and accept this,” the party said in an editorial.

With PTI inputs

This report has been covered in a shortened or snippet format to ensure the most crucial information is published in the shortest possible time. The report may be expanded to a full-length article if the story develops further or more information becomes available.