New Delhi: Haryana Congress leader Bhupinder Hooda on Friday met Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi in Delhi as more clarity is expected on candidates for the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president election.
"In our meeting today, we spoke about the party and how to strengthen it. She said that she has a neutral stand regarding the Congress president election," the former Haryana Chief Minister said, as quoted by news agency ANI.
Earlier in the day, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced that he will fight the Congress President Election and will step down from the CM post if he is elected party chief.
ALSO READ | Ashok Gehlot To Contest Congress President Election, To Resign As Rajasthan CM If Elected Party Chief
Speaking to ABP News, Ashok Gehlot said he will step down from the post of Rajasthan Chief Minister if he is elected Congress President.
When asked whether he has chosen his successor for the post of Rajasthan Chief Minister, Gehlot said that a decision will be reached as per the party framework.
Previously, the Rajasthan Chief Minister had indicated that he could throw his hat in the ring if former president Rahul Gandhi does not agree to take on the party's reins.
Gehlot is believed to have the backing of the current leadership. However, Congress president Sonia Gandhi is said to have told both Gehlot and Tharoor that she would remain "neutral" in the polls.
Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor is a probable AICC president poll candidate.
Notably, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh on Thursday told ABP News that he does not plan to contest the party election: "I will do whatever the Congress President orders me to do. I don't intend to (contest) yet."
EXCLUSIVE: Digvijaya Singh Confirms No Gandhi Will Contest Congress President Election
In an early instance of leaders taking sides in the upcoming contest for the Congress President, Congress leader Gourav Vallabh voiced support for Ashok Gehlot.
He launched a scathing attack on Shashi Tharoor over his probable candidature saying his "one major contribution" to the grand old party in eight years was to send letters to Sonia Gandhi when she was hospitalised.