New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi remains the "number one" and the "only" choice of the Congress rank and file for the party chief's post, senior leader Salman Khurshid said on Sunday after the schedule for the election of the AICC president was announced. Khurshid also said efforts will be made to persuade Gandhi to take over the presidency of the party once he returns from abroad.
Ending speculation, the Congress after a meeting of the party's working committee, announced that the election for its president will be held on October 17 with the winner being declared two days later. Asked whether Rahul Gandhi remains the choice of party leaders, Khurshid said, "Frankly from everybody that I have spoken to or I have sensed their opinion, he remains the number one (choice) and he remains the only one." "We haven't got into any conversations beyond that...we have no indications as to whether he will accept our request. Today, it was not possible to dwell on that because it was just the scheduling and it was all very difficult because it was a hybrid meeting," Khurshid, a permanent invitee to the Congress Working Committee, told PTI.
"When he comes back I am sure we would want to persuade him," Khurshid said. The former Union minister said party workers and leaders share the sentiment expressed by senior party leader and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge who said on Saturday that Rahul Gandhi would be persuaded to return as Congress president as there is none in the party other than him who has a pan-India appeal. Khurshid said "100 per cent" the rank and file of the party wants Rahul Gandhi at the helm.