Digvijay Singh in Delhi, may join Congress chief poll race

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 28

The saga of Congress presidential poll hopefuls continued to unravel on Wednesday with the fresh likelihood of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh arriving in the capital tonight and filing his papers for the top post.

Nominations for the election for Congress president end at 3 pm on September 30 with only Shashi Tharoor procuring the nomination forms so far. Singh, currently occupied with Bharat Jodo Yatra, had recently said he was not ruling himself out of the party chief's election race but had later publicly stated his disinterest.

With the rapid turn of events in Rajasthan and the previous consensus candidate — state Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot — looking increasingly reluctant to leave the state for AICC, the Congress appears to be drafting a plan B.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi met veteran AK Antony on Wednesday for an hour to discuss the Rajasthan leadership issue and the party presidential poll, amid indications that Gehlot was disinterested in the top job should it entail sacrificing his chief minister-ship.

Rajasthan minister Pratap Singh Kachariwas, known for his proximity to Gehlot, today said the CM “was not resigning and was here for a full five-year term.”

Meanwhile, Ashok Gehlot arrived in Delhi today and may meet Sonia soon.

The twists and turns in the matter were triggered after Rahul Gandhi’s public insistence on one person holding only one post even after Gehlot had indicated he could handle two and even three jobs. With things coming to a head, Gehlot’s candidacy for Congress presidency appears unlikely even though the party continues to reason with him.

Digvijay meanwhile said he had not discussed the party presidential poll issue with the Gandhis and “will see if he files his papers.”

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