The leaders filed their nomination papers for the post of Congress president on September 30. Nominations for the post closed at 3 p.m.\u00a0\u00a0Mr. Kharge, a party veteran from Karnataka, filed his papers in the presence of Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, former Union Minister Anand Sharma, and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan among others<\/p>\n
Mr. Sharma and Mr. Chavan are members of the group that has written to party president Sonia Gandhi, seeking internal reforms. Mr. Tharoor was also a signatory to the 2020 letter. Among the signatories to Mr. Kharge\u2019s nomination are G-23 leader Manish Tewari and senior leaders A. K. Antony, Mr. Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Ajay Maken, and Salman Khurshid. Mr. Tharoor filed his nomination after a visit to Raj Ghat. M.K. Raghavan was the only MP from Kerala to sign Mr. Tharoor\u2019s nomination form.<\/p>\n
When asked about Mr. Sharma and Mr. Chavan signing Mr. Kharge\u2019s nomination papers, Mr. Tharoor said, \u201cThis tells you a story.\u201d If the delegates want a status quo, then they must vote for Mr. Kharge, and if they want to vote for reforms, they must vote for him, Mr. Tharoor added.<\/p>\n
Mr. Tharoor, however, said he will go by the assurance of neutrality given by Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.<\/p>\n
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh, who withdrew from the race, visited Mr. Kharge at his residence this morning. \u201cI told him that I stand by him and can\u2019t even think of contesting against him. I will be his proposer,\u201d Mr. Singh told reporters.<\/p>\n
Congress MP Deepender S. Hooda said, \u201cI welcome Mallikarjun Kharge\u2019s nomination for Congress president post and am confident that he will get elected. Over the years, he has raised the voice of the people in Parliament. I\u2019ve signed his nomination papers as a proposer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before filing his nomination papers, Mr. Tripathi, a Congress leader from Jharkhand, said, \u201cI belong to a farmer\u2019s family. The country is seeing that the son of a farmer who has experience serving with the Indian Air Force, a Minister in the State government, and deputy leader of Jharkhand Assembly, can also contest for the post of AICC president.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nominations for the post closed at 3 p.m., and results will be declared on October 19.<\/p>\n
With the Gandhis not running for the top post this time around, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years.<\/p>\n