Shashi Tharoor has formalised his candidature for the Congress president election by filing his nomination. Digvijaya Singh has dropped out of the race and will be supporting Mallikarjun Kharge for the top post. However the chances of more party leaders joining the fray cannot be ruled out. Also, the party is yet to decisively settle the question of of leadership in Rajasthan.
The battle for the Congress chief post intensified after Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday announced that he would not contest the party president's election and would instead propose the candidature of his senior Mallikarjun Kharge. Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor spoke at length to India Today TV before filing his nomination papers on Friday. When asked about what made him contest the election, the Congress MP said, "I really feel that the Congress party is needed by the country. We need to appeal to larger constituencies and we have been able to do that in the last couple of years."