NEW PERSUADERS
With the Congress presidential election scheduled for October 17, desperation is growing among Gandhi family loyalists to persuade Rahul Gandhi to contest. Most veterans hope to use the time Rahul will spend with them during the 150-day-long Bharat Jodo Yatra to convince him to head the party again. There were outsiders also who joined in—Bihar CM Nitish Kumar and Tamil Nadu CM M.K. Stalin.
Both Nitish, who met Rahul in
Delhi recently, and Stalin, who attended the Yatra’s launch on September 7 in his home state, asked Rahul to reconsider his decision to stay away from the Congress leadership.