New Delhi: Congress leaders Gourav Vallabh, Deepender Hooda, and Syed Naseer Hussain on Sunday announced their resignations as party's spokespersons to campaign for veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge in AICC president election.
"All three of us resign from the post of official spokesperson to campaign for the election of Mallikarjun Kharge as party president and want this election to be free and fair," news agency ANI quoted Gourav Vallabh as saying.
Addressing a press conference, Mallikarjun Kharge also said: "The day I filed my nomination, I gave a resignation from my post aligning with the 'One Person One Post' decision of the party taken in Udaipur. I officially begin my campaign for the post of Congress party president today."
"I hereby tender my resignation from the post of Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, consequent upon my filing of nomination for the post of President, All India Congress Committee," Kharge had said in his letter to Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, news agency PTI reported.
If elected, he will be the second AICC president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa, and also a Dalit leader to hold the post after Jagjivan Ram.
After filing his nomination on Friday, the Karnataka MP appealed to all delegates to vote for him.
"I thank senior leaders from all states for supporting me in the Congress presidential election," Kharge told reporters at the AICC office.
"I have been connected to the ideology of Congress since my childhood, used to campaign for the same Gandhi, Nehru ideology when I was in classes 8th, 9th," Kharge said.
His candidature was proposed by party leaders Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, AK Antony, Pawan Kumar Bansal and Mukul Wasnik. G23 leaders Anand Sharma and Manish Tewari have also backed him.
Shashi Tharoor Calls Kharge A ‘Candidate Of Continuity’
Addressing a press conference, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, who also filed his nomination on Friday, called Kharge the 'Bhishma Pitamah' of the Congress in some ways.
"It is a friendly contest that is going to happen. We are not enemies or rivals. No disrespect to him but I will represent my ideas," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, as quoted by PTI.
Tharoor also called Kharge a "candidate of continuity", perhaps a reference to the impression that the Karnataka leader is the choice of the party's high command -- the Gandhi family.
"I am not surprised that the establishment is rallying behind the status quo. If you want the status quo, I think you should vote for Mr. Kharge. If you want change and progress in the party with an eye to the rest of the 21st century, then I hope I will stand for that change," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.
Besides Kharge and Tharoor, former Jharkhand minister Tripathi filed a single set of poll papers with Madhusudan Mistry, the chairman of the Congress's Central Election Authority.
Former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh and Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot were also a part of the race but eventually dropped out.
Over 9,100 delegates are eligible to cast their votes in the October 17 election. The result will be announced on October 19.