Hope Priyanka will throw her hat in the ring, says Tharoor

New Delhi: Asserting that "lack of clarity" over leadership following Rahul Gandhi's resignation is hurting the Congress, senior leader Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the way forward for the party could be opening up all key posts, including the Congress Working Committee membership, to fresh elections which would help legitimise the incoming set of leaders.

He also backed Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh's assessment that a young leader would be more suitable to lead the Congress at this juncture.

Tharoor said he hopes that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will throw her hat in the ring when the call for elections for the party chief's post is made, but added it was up to the Gandhi family to decide on whether she will contest for the post.

In an interview to PTI, Tharoor expressed disappointment with the prevailing situation in the party and asserted that there is no clear answer to the current "predicament that we in the Congress are facing".

"It is certainly quite true that the lack of clarity at the top of the party is likely to be hurting the Congress workers and sympathisers, many of whom miss the fact of having a party leader to look to for key decisions, authority and even inspiration and energy, to rally together and move forward," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said.

Tharoor said he hoped that the Congress Working Committee is taking the current situation "very seriously" and is doing its best to find a solution without further delay.

"One way forward could be for the CWC to name an interim working president for the party and then ideally dissolve itself, following which the main leadership positions within the party, including the CWC itself, should be opened up to fresh elections," the former Union minister said.

"By allowing members of the party, drawn from the AICC and PCC delegates, to determine who will lead the party from these key positions, it would help legitimise the incoming set of leaders and give them a credible mandate to lead the party," he said.

Tharoor also suggested that the Congress can go for a high-octane British Conservative Party-style leadership race for presidency that could increase the national interest in the party and galvanise more voters towards it once again.