Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor met party chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday and expressed his intention to contest the upcoming AICC chief polls. The Congress president conveyed that she would stay "neutral" in the elections, sources told PTI.
Gandhi welcomed the idea of more people contesting the polls and dispelled the notion that there would be an "official candidate", they said.
According to some sources, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also being considered as a candidate for the top post. Gehlot, however, denies that he is a candidate and has been saying that he will try and convince Rahul Gandhi to contest.
Despite unrelenting demand from a section of Congress leaders, Rahul Gandhi, who is currently leading the party's "
Bharat Jodo" yatra, has firmly refused to return as president.
Tharoor on Monday also endorsed what he said was a petition by a group of young party members seeking reforms and a pledge by AICC president candidates to implement the Udaipur Declaration in entirety, if elected.
Tharoor shared the petition on Twitter, which stated that it was an appeal to the candidates in the upcoming election of the Congress president, and said it had been signed by over 650 people so far.
The elections for the post of the Congress president will be held next month after a two-year-long back and forth. The filing of nominations for the post of the president begins in three days.
The grand old party saw a number of key leaders over the last year exit – including Kapil Sibal, Jaiveer Shergill, Sunil Jakhar, Amarinder Singh, RPN Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Hardik Patel, and Ghulam Nabi Azad.
With inputs from PTI
