New Delhi: After several twists and turns, veteran Congressmen Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor emerged as the two final names who will race for the post of Congress president.
Both Kharge and Tharoor filed their nominations Friday.
As the clock struck 3 pm and the window to file nomination papers came to a close, it was certain that Congress would get a non-Gandhi party chief after a gap of 24 years.
Kharge’s candidature was proposed by party leaders Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. Leader of the dissident G-23 group Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari are also proposers for Kharge’s candidature.
Kharge is one of the most experienced persons in the party and is a Dalit leader too, Tewari said.
Tharoor had announced his willingness to throw in his hat for the internal polls last week and had also met Sonia Gandhi regarding it.
Addressing a press conference after filing his papers, the Thiruvananthapuram MP called his rival Kharge, who is being seen as the favourite to win, ‘Bhishma Pitamah’ of the Congress.
“It is a friendly contest that is going to happen. We are not enemies or rivals. No disrespect to him but I will represent my ideas,” he told reporters.
Tharoor called Kharge, 80, a “candidate of continuity”, an apparent reference to the impression that the Karnataka leader is the choice of the Gandhis.
While Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was one of the front runners expected to run for the post, he withdrew his name from the race Thursday and tendered an apology to interim chief Sonia Gandhi over the political fiasco that swirled up in his state during the weekend.
Earlier, Gehlot had said that he was ready to contest the polls if Rahul Gandhi refuses to.
In a last-minute surprise, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh also collected nomination papers to enter the fray but pulled out of the contest Friday morning.
The final list of candidates will be released at 5 pm on 8 October and the elections for Congress president will be held on 17th. The counting of votes will be held two days later on 19 October.
(with inputs from PTI)
Also read: Digvijaya Singh drops out of Congress presidential race, announces support to Kharge