Shashi Tharoor calls for polls to elect Congress president

New Delhi: Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that a poll should be conducted to elect the next party president. He suggested that workers of all ranks and files should be allowed to contest.

Expressing concern, Tharoor said that without a chief the Congress is suffering a lot. He added that in absence of president "a sort of vacuum" has enveloped the party.

"I think an interim president should be appointed for 2-3 months and meanwhile a process of election for the party president should be initiated. In the election for the party president, anybody should give his or her name and participate. The president elected through such process will have greater legitimacy and credibility," said Tharoor.

"Many MPs and party colleagues are very upset that a sort of vacuum is in the party for the last two months. Decision making is not there, nothing has been reached at, as a result in Goa the leaders of opposition themselves left the party, and we all have seen what happened in Karnataka," he said.

"If the appointed working committee would appoint someone then what credibility he or she will have? president should be elected through elections and party workers should participate, Pradesh Congress Committee and others should have their say," he added.

Rahul Gandhi, who was travelling abroad, returned home on Thursday morning, amidst speculation that the much-awaited meeting of the Congress Working Committee might take place soon to choose a successor to him as the Congress president.

Rahul offered to step down from his post at the CWC meeting on May 25, taking moral responsibility for the party's drubbing in the 17th Lok Sabha elections. Almost two months after that not only has Gandhi made his resignation public but also removed the tag of "Congress president" from the bio of his official Twitter handle.