It’s official: Mallikarjun Kharge vs Shashi Tharoor in Congress president race; Digvijaya drops out

It’s still clear who the contenders for the Congress presidential race are. The last entrant, senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, might just be the winner all the way.

After Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot announced that he will not contest the polls, Kharge, the leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, emerged as the frontrunner and possible “official candidate”, the one who has the backing of the party high command.

The 80-year-old will file his nomination for the October 17 election today. He will be up against Shashi Tharoor and the other candidate Digvijaya Singh has dropped out of the race.

Why Mallikarjun Kharge?

After Gehlot pulled out of the race following the rebellion in Rajasthan, party insiders said the high command was looking for an alternative. Kharge is the third candidate to join in the race.

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Kharge is a staunch party loyalist and is considered close to all three Gandhis – Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka. The Dalit leader from Karnataka also assists Rahul with “mission South”, where the party hopes to make an impact. However, Congress’ “one person, one post rule” means he is out as the party’s face for Karnataka chief minister in the state Assembly elections due next year.

Kharge will now resign as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

The veteran had hinted at his willingness to contest the election but only if Sonia Gandhi agreed, according to a report in The Indian Express.

Does Kharge have support?

Congress veteran KC Venugopal, a key aide of the Gandhis, informed Kharge that the high command’s decision for him to join the race last night, sources told NDTV. He is said to have the backing of the Gandhis even though they have insisted that they will remain neutral.

Kharge is expected to meet party interim president Sonia Gandhi today. He also has the support of former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda, a member of the G23 group of dissenters.

Why did Digvijaya drop out?

It was only yesterday that the former Madhya Pradesh CM collected nomination papers. But now he has said he will not contest the election, adding that he will back Kharge instead.

What is Tharoor saying?

Tharoor was the first leader to throw his hat in the ring and the only confirmed name. He will file his nomination at the Congress headquarters on 24 Akbar Road this afternoon and then hold a press conference.

“We all share same ideology, want the party to be strengthened; friendly contest, no rivalry,” he told reporters about contesting against Digvijaya Singh earlier in the day.

The Congress MP from Kerala visited Rajghat this morning ahead of filing his nomination.

Tharoor and Digvijaya Singh met on Thursday and agreed that the election is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest. “We both agreed that ours is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest among colleagues,” he tweeted.

With inputs from agencies

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