Congress MP Shashi Tharoor Friday welcomed Mallikarjun Kharge to the party's presidential race, telling reporters 'the more candidates, the better'. The Congress will hold an election next month to select a 'full-time' replacement for interim boss Sonia Gandhi and - after days of political intrigue and drama - the choice seems between Tharoor, Kharge, and Jharkhand leader KN Tripathi, with Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot bowing out Thursday.
"I only see speculation (Kharge contesting). He is also a very respected colleague... we worked together in the Lok Sabha. It will be a good thing to have more people in the frame. The more candidates, the better,' Tharoor was quoted by news agency ANI.
Shortly afterwards he tweeted to confirm he will file his nomination papers today.
Also out of the race is former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh - seen as the Gandhis' pick in place of Gehlot, whose candidature was scuppered after MLAs professing loyalty to him rebelled against the decision to install Sachin Pilot as the new Rajasthan CM.
Tharoor, an ex union minister, Thursday had also welcomed Singh's candidature, tweeting '... ours is not a battle between rivals but a friendly contest among colleagues'.
Singh has said he will instead back Kharge in next month's election. He opted out of the race after meeting Kharge and KC Venugopal; the details of the meeting were not made public.
{{/usCountry}}Singh has said he will instead back Kharge in next month's election. He opted out of the race after meeting Kharge and KC Venugopal; the details of the meeting were not made public.
{{/usCountry}}Another Congress leader Pramod Tiwari - a nine-time MLA from Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh, told ANI he too would back Kharge for the post of Congress president.
The third confirmed candidate is KN Tripathi, a party leader from Jharkhand, who told ANI: "I'll file my nomination at 1pm... Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi said they're neither requesting anyone to contest nor declining anyone..."
The election for the Congress president's post will take place October 17 and the result will be announced October 19.