Congress president polls: Tharoor, Kharge, and Tripathi file nomination

While the leaders have come out and claimed that the elections in the party is a friendly contest and not a battle between the rivals, reports suggest that Kharge is a favourite candidate

After two decades, the Indian National Congress (INC) is set to see a contest for the party chief. 

The party is gearing up to host its presidential polls on October 17. The new party president, on October 19, will replace incumbent Sonia Gandhi, who has been at the helm for decades now. 

The filing of nominations was held from September 24 to September 30. As the nomination filing has come to an end, only three leaders are in the fray -- Shashi Tharoor, Mallikarjun Kharge, and K N Tripathi.

While the leaders have claimed that the election is not a battle, reports suggest that the 80-year-old Kharge is flanked by the top leaders of the party. Following this, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor asked the party to focus on change and termed Kharge as a candidate of continuity. 

While Mallikarjun Kharge filed several sets of nomination papers, Tharoor filed five documents. K N Tripathi, the former Jharkhand minister, filed just one set of nomination papers with Madhusudan Mistry, the chairman of the Congress's Central Election Authority.

According to a PTI report, Kharge appeared to be a favourite candidate for the much anticipated presidential polls as a galaxy of leaders were present by his side when he filed the nomination papers at the AICC headquarters in the national capital.

Kharge, who filed his nomination papers on Friday, said that he was encouraged by all leaders, party workers and delegates from key states to contest the elections. He further added that he would like to thank those who were present by his side at the time of filing the nomination papers. Shashi Tharoor too addressed the media and said that it is a privilege to serve the only party in India with an open democratic process to choose its leader.