Congress President election: Mallikarjun Kharge enters fray as high command candidate

NEW DELHI: Mallikarjun Kharge, opposition leader in Rajya Sabha, has finally entered the fray as the time to submit nomination papers to contest for the post of Congress President ends today. It is reported that Kharge will submit papers this afternoon. Kharge is contesting as party high command candidate. His papers were signed by AK Antony. There are also reports that Kharge will resign as Leader of the Opposition immediately as one person can hold only one position. KC Venugopal, a Rajasthan MP and confidant of the Gandhi family, informed Kharge of the High Command's decision.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Rajya Sabha MP Digvijay Singh and MP Shashi Tharoor will file papers today. Tharoor will submit his papers at the Election Authority office at AICC headquarters at 12.15 pm on Friday. Digvijay Singh also indicated that the papers will be submitted between 12 and 3. The deadline for submission of papers is 3 pm.

Digvijay Singh's candidature was confirmed when Ashok Gehlot, who was supposed to be the official candidate, said that he is not ready to give the post of Chief Minister of Rajasthan to Sachin Pilot. Tharoor was in the fray right from the start. It is reported that Mukul Wasnik, one of the prominent G23 leaders, is also in the race. Congress leader Ajay Maken's name also came up.

At the same time, Congress MP from Assam, Abdul Khaliq, came forward pointing out the possibility of making Priyanka Gandhi, who is active in politics, the president. The MP pointed out that Priyanka Vadra is the daughter-in-law of the Vadra family and according to Indian tradition, she is not a Gandhi family member anymore. Abdul Khaliq tweeted that he thinks Priyanka Gandhi is the best candidate as Rahul Gandhi again denied the post of Congress president.

The final list of contestants will be released on October 8. Elections will be held on October 17. The result will be out on October 19.