Congress President Election: Former Jharkhand minister KN Tripathi's nomination for the Congress presidential poll was rejected on Saturday, setting up a contest between party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor.
The three had filed nominations on Friday, the last day of the process.
Addressing a press conference at the Congress headquarters, New Delhi, AICC Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said a total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process and four of them were rejected.
While Kharge submitted 14 forms, Tharoor submitted five and Tripathi one. Mistry said Tripathi's form was rejected as the signature of one of his proposers did not match and another proposer's signature was repeated.
Kharge leading the Congress president race?
Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, who is also a candidate now for party's top post, on Saturday resigned as Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha. His resignation came in the accordance with the Congress’ Udaipur Resolution of One Leader One Post.
Meanwhile, Kharge, who filed the nomination in the party president election on Friday, is reportedly leading the race for the top post in the grand old party. Being a Dalit candidate and reportedly being backed by Gandhi family, the chances of becoming next Congress president is high. However, party claimed that it is neutral towards supporting candidates.
Earlier, Kharge said he was fighting for a big change in the party. He also appealed to all delegates to vote for him.
"I thank senior leaders from all states for supporting me in the Congress presidential election," Kharge told reporters at the AICC office after filing his nomination on Friday.
His candidature was proposed by party leaders Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari have also backed him.
Also Read: Congress President Election: Mallikarjun Kharge resigns from post of LoP in Rajya Sabha
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