Party veteran and Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot will contest for the post of the Congress president in the internal elections due next month, party leaders told NDTV.
The development comes just days after the Rajasthan Congress unanimously passed a resolution in favour of Rahul Gandhi as party chief.
It emerged earlier this evening that Shashi Tharoor has got the go-ahead from party chief Sonia Gandhi to run for the post of president.
The Congress, politically attenuated after a series of poll losses, has been without a full time president since Rahul Gandhi quit after the dismal 2019 general election results. Sonia Gandhi has been the interim chief since then.
Rahul Gandhi, 52, has been steadfast in his reluctance not to return as party chief despite repeated pleas by party leaders. Sonia Gandhi too has ruled out returning as chief because of her health.
Mr Gandhi, however, continues to lead the Congress's campaign against the government. He is presently headlining the party's "Bharat Jodo Yatra".
The Congress party's leadership crisis has only worsened with its back-to-back election defeats and string of exits by high-profile leaders.
Whoever is elected Congress chief will face the gargantuan task of leading the party into the 2024 elections for its third clash against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's BJP, two of which it has lost.
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