Sonia Gandhi

Mallikarjun Kharge, who proudly recalled his several decades' old association with the party, underscored that he has entered the fray while holding the view that former Congress president Rahul Gandhi should have taken up the mantle.

The Congress on Saturday announced that an electoral contest would take place between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor on October 17 with both candidates not withdrawing their nominations, the deadline for which has ended.

On Thursday, Sonia Gandhi joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Pandavapura, Mandya district and walked beside her son Rahul Gandhi and other leaders amid cheers and slogan-shouting by party workers.

Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge, a front runner for the party's presidential polls, said that he had not entered elections to oppose anyone but to strengthen the party. Adding that he entered the polls after senior and young leaders urged him to enter the fray.

Every year, Gandhi Jayanti is observed on October 2 to mark the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, who dedicated his life to India's struggle for independence. A preacher of non-violence (Ahimsa), Gandhi's birthday is also observed as the International Day of Non-Violence, adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2007.

On Thursday night, former Rajasthan deputy CM and Congress leader Sachin Pilot also met Sonia Gandhi at the residence for an hour. He said he had a detailed discussion with the party chief and AICC leaders over the Rajasthan political crisis.

On Thursday, Ashok Gehlot said that he will not be contesting for the post for Congress president post. This decision, by the CM comes after he met with Sonia Gandhi after some delay amid turmoil over the Congress president election and the Rajasthan crisis.

Earlier, Gehlot sought to play down the political crisis in the state for which three of his loyalists have been issued show cause notice by the party's central leadership and said, "internal politics goes on, we'll resolve it".

Digvijaya Singh has officially entered the race for Congress president race. "I have come to collect nomination papers," he told reporters, adding that he would file his nomination on Friday, the last day for doing so ahead of the October 17 election.

The decision to field all party MLAs was taken by the Central Election Committee, which is headed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi.Sources said that among the names approved at the meeting included that of Mukesh Agnihotri from Haroli and Vikramaditya Singh from Shimla Rural.