New Delhi: A day after filing his nomination for the contesting in the polls to be held for the successor of Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge resigned from his post in the Rajya Sabha, sources in the know said. Former Finance Minister, P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are said to be in the race to succed Kharge as the LoP.
Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge both filed their nomination papers at the AICC headquarters on Friday with the Karnataka party loyalist emerging as a clear favourite. The former LoP, flanked by top Congress leaders, filed 14 sets of nomination papers with the proposers including Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, A K Antony, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and members from the G-23 ginger group comprising Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and Manish Tewari, while Tharoor, who was also part of the G-23 group, filed five sets of nomination papers.
Madhusudhan Mistry interactign with the reporters of Friday said that the observes will scrutinise the nominations on Saturday and announce forms that are valid and the names of the candidates by the evening. “None of these 3 is an official candidate of the party. They’re contesting on their own. Congress president has made it very clear that she’ll stay neutral throughout the process & if someone claims he has her blessings, it is incorrect,” he said.
The Congress Presidential post in to undergo poll on October 17th, after a span of 20 years. It is worth noting that no Gandhi scion is participating in the fray this time.