Gehlot indicates he can enter fray, Tharoor prepares to file papers

New Delhi: The race for the Congress president's post turned interesting on Wednesday with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot giving a clear indication that he could enter the poll fray and Shashi Tharoor meeting the party's poll panel chief to enquire about the nomination formalities.

Gehlot also hinted that he would like to continue as the chief minister but suspense continued over whether he would stay on or get a person of his choice to helm the Rajasthan government, or the post would go to his bete noire Sachin Pilot. On whether keeping both posts of the chief minister and party president could be a violation of the party's pledge of 'one person, one post' taken at Udaipur, Gehlot said that those applied when the high command nominates people.

With Rahul Gandhi likely to stick to his earlier stance of not taking on party presidency, a Gehlot versus Tharoor contest seems likely. In the next few days it would also be clear if a surprise candidate or candidates also throw their hat in the ring. Interestingly, a TV channel quoted Digvijaya Singh as saying that he was not ruling himself out of the race. However, taking to Twitter, Singh, in a tongue-in-cheek remark, thanked the channel "for the spin".

Also, it could be a keener contest than the one in 2000 when Sonia Gandhi trumped Jitendra Prasada as she has asserted that she would remain neutral in the polls and there would be no "official candidate". Gehlot met Sonia Gandhi at her 10, Janpath residence and later left for Mumbai. The Rajasthan chief minister is expected to reach Kochi on Thursday and make a last-ditch effort to convince Rahul Gandhi, who is undertaking Bharat Jodo Yatra, to take over the reins of the party. Pilot was on Wednesday with Rahul Gandhi during the yatra as it moved through Kochi city and said the average party worker wants Gandhi to lead from the front.