(This article is authored by Alar)

The upcoming All India Congress Committee (AICC) presidential election will undoubtedly be historic because the victor will succeed Sonia Gandhi, the party's longest-serving leader, who has been in office since 1998, barring two years of Rahul Gandhi's tenure. 

In other words, if that occurs, it would be the first election that might feature a non-Gandhi chief. In taking a proactive role in choosing the party's new leader, the central election authority for the Congress on Thursday published a notification for the AICC president elections.

According to the notification released on Thursday and in accordance with the authority granted to him by Article XVIII of the Indian National Congress Constitution, Madhusudan Mistry, the Chairman of the Central Election Authority of the party, announced that the election for the position of party president will take place in accordance with the specified timeline. As per the notification,  submitting nominations for the election will take place from September 24 to September 30.

On October 1, nomination papers would be scrutinized and the last date to withdraw the nominations is October 8. If there are multiple candidates, the election will be held on October 17. On October 19, ballots would be counted and results would be announced

"Now, therefore, I hereby call upon the delegates of the Congress Party to elect the President of Indian National Congress in accordance with the provision made under Article XVIII," Mistry said in the notification.

It is noteworthy that Rahul Gandhi, former chief of the Indian National Congress, is currently travelling across the country for five months as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. He presided over the Indian National Congress between 16 December 2017 and 3 July 2019. The last election held by the party was in November 2000.