Congress presidential polls: Digvijaya Singh withdraws candidature, to back Mallikarjun Kharge

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• Sep 30, 2022 | Dhupali Das

With Digvijaya Singh opting out, the two main candidates for the election are Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge...

Digital Desk: In a significant turn of events in the last-minute fight for the Congress presidential poll, Congress leader and former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh withdrew his name from the candidacy and announced he would support Mallikarjun Kharge. The nomination papers for the highly anticipated election must be submitted by Friday. With Digvijaya Singh opting out, the two main candidates for the election are Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge. Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, withdrew from the race on Thursday as a result of the mutiny in Rajasthan that his devoted MLAs incited in an effort to keep him in that position even if he ran for a party election.

"I told Kharge I will opt out if Mallikarjun Kharge contests. He is my senior," Digvijaya Singh said. "I have worked for the Congress whole my life. I will continue to do so. I can't compromise on three things ---Dalit rights, fight against communalism, and my faith in the party leadership," the Congress leader said adding that if he had known Mallikarjun Kharge would be contesting in the election, he would not have first collected the nomination form.

"I visited Kharge's residence yesterday and told him that if he contests, I will not. But at that time, he said he had not taken any decision. Today, I came to know from the media that he will be filing his nomination. So I am opting out as I can't even think of contesting against my senior," Digvijaya Singh said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari on Friday said he would be a proposer for Mallikarjun Kharge.

Meanwhile, Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi said he will be filing his nomination for the election today. "Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia Gandhi have said that they are neither requesting anyone to contest nor declining anyone...we want to see what the rank and file of the party want," he said.

In the midst of the election drama, Manish Tewari, who was also rumoured to be running for the poll, backed a consensus candidate, making it plain that he would not be contesting. He recalled the late Pranab Mukherjee's words that certain offices should not be sought but offered, and Congress president is one such office.