Congress President Election: Digvijay Singh not to contest for party's top post

Amid speculations of his nomination for the All India Congress Committee (AICC) presidential election, Digvijay Singh on September 23 said that is not in the race for the party’s top post.  

Addressing a press conference in Jabalpur, Singh said that he would not contest the Congress Presidential election but he will follow the instruction given to him by the high command.

There is an intense build-up to the Congress president election after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot confirmed his candidature on Friday. Gehlot also confirmed that Rahul Gandhi has made it clear that "no member of the Gandhi family" would become the next party chief.

With this, a reshuffle in the Rajasthan cabinet is also expected because if Gehlot holds the post of party chief, he will have to resign from his CM post as Rahul Gandhi on Thursday made it clear that there will be "one person, one post" norm. In that case, there is also a possibility that Sachin Pilot could be elevated in Rajasthan.

Describing the post of Congress president as an "ideological post", Rahul Gandhi said the position "represents a set of ideas and belief system and vision of India".

Meanwhile, with Digvijay Singh's clearance, Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor are the top contenders for the post now and this has brought the congress leaders to two different edges.

On September 19, Shashi Tharoor met Sonia Gandhi at her residence in the national capital where he expressed his wish to contest the polls to "make internal democracy" in the party stronger. Gandhi giving her nod to the Thiruvananthapuram MP said that anybody can contest elections. Tharoor had also met with the party's Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Wednesday.

The process of filing nominations for the post of party chief will begin on September 24 and will continue till September 30. The election is scheduled for October 17 and the counting of votes will take place on October 19.