Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday ruled out withdrawing from the Congress president's election after the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination papers for the party's top post.
“Kharge's nomination is welcomed. Many candidates are needed for the party's benefit... I won't pull out of the Congress president election as I won't let down workers from around the country who've gone out of their ways to extend their support to me,” Tharoor told reporters after filing his nomination papers.
“He is Bhishma Pitamah of the Congress, no disrespect to him. I will represent my ideas,” Tharoor said on contesting against Kharge.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP submitted his papers to the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry at his office at the AICC headquarters.
Tharoor said Congress president Sonia Gandhi assured him that the party has no official candidate and the Gandhi family will stay neutral in this race. “In that spirit, I put forward my candidacy. It's not to disrespect anyone, a friendly contest,” Tharoor said.
“We are not enemies or rivals, we are colleagues and we are interested in seeing party going forward... Let party workers decide how to proceed. I won't say anything negative about Kharge, Digvijaya Singh, Tripathi,” Tharoor added.
{{/usCountry}}“We are not enemies or rivals, we are colleagues and we are interested in seeing party going forward... Let party workers decide how to proceed. I won't say anything negative about Kharge, Digvijaya Singh, Tripathi,” Tharoor added.
{{/usCountry}}Tharoor asserted that he has a vision to strengthen the party which should be a vehicle for "change" as he filed his nomination for the party president poll.