Congress prez polls: KN Tripathi's form rejected; Tharoor, Kharge announced formal contenders

New Delhi: Putting an end to speculations over the candidature for the Congress' upcoming presidential polls, the party's election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Saturday announced after scrutiny that Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are currently two candidates. Another candidate, KN Tripathi, who also filed a nomination is now out of the race as his form was rejected. "KN Tripathi's form was rejected as it did not meet the norms set, and had signatures-related issues," said Congress' Central Election Authority chairman, Madhusudan Mistry.

"A total of 20 forms were yesterday submitted. Of those, the scrutiny committee rejected 4 forms due to signature issues. There is time till October 8 for withdrawal, the picture would be clearer after that. If no one withdraws, the voting process will begin. The two current contenders for the post of Congress President are Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor," Mistry noted.

Shashi Tharoor expressed delight on passing the scrutiny and said, "Delighted to learn that, following scrutiny, Shri @kharge and I will be squaring off in the friendly contest for President of @incIndia. May the Party and all our colleagues benefit from this democratic process!"

Meanwhile, following the party's 'one person one post' resolution, senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge sent his resignation from the post of Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi after filing his nomination for the post of party chief on Friday. Notably, the Grand Old Party announced wide-ranging organisational reforms, including 'one family, one ticket' and 'one person, one post' norms and a cap of five years on holding a party post in Rajasthan’s Udaipur on May 15.

Shashi Tharoor, on Saturday, also said that he wants the party to strengthen and also wants to become a 'voice of change' within the party.