Congress president polls: Kharge resigns as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha after filing nomination

New Delhi: Candidate for Congress presidential polls Mallikarjun Kharge has submitted his resignation to Sonia Gandhi from the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha as per the Udaipur resolution of One Leader One Post. 

Kharge received support from nearly 30 Congress leaders for the party`s presidential polls. These names include Deepender Hooda, Salman Khurshid, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, and others.

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Congress Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said 14 nominations were received by Mallikarjun Kharge, five by Shashi Tharoor and one by Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi."14 forms were submitted by (Mallikarjun) Kharge, 5 by Shashi Tharoor, and one by KN Tripathi. Tomorrow, we will scrutinise forms and tomorrow evening we will announce forms that are valid and the names of candidates," said Mistry at the press briefing.

Meanwhile, former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh dropped out of the Congress presidential race. He too extended his support to Kharge, saying he "cannot think of contesting an election" against a senior leader like Kharge.

Singh was the second Congress leader to pull out of the race after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot amid political turmoil in his state. Gehlot said he would be the proposer for Kharge.

Nominations for the post of Congress president closed at 3 pm on Friday and results will be declared on October 19. 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. 

(With agency inputs)