Cong chief poll: Digvijay arriving in Delhi tonight amid buzz of paper filing; Gehlot in Delhi too

Tribune News Service

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, September 28

The saga of Congress presidential poll hopefuls continued to unravel on Wednesday with news that former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh would be arriving in the capital tonight amid a buzz that he would file his papers for the top post.

Singh, currently part of Bharat Jodo Yatra, had a week back said he was not ruling himself out of the party chief's post but later publicly stated that he was not interested.

With the rapid turn of events and the previous consensus face -- Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot -- looking reluctant to leave the state for the Centre, the Congress appears to be gearing for plan B.

Sources said Digvijay Singh could have been signaled by party president Sonia Gandhi to file his nominations to avoid the current embarrassment where no official face has emerged even with just two more days left to file the papers.

The process of nominations ends on September 30 with only Shashi Tharoor in the race so far. Tharoor will file his papers on September 30.

Meanwhile, Singh's presence in the race is likely to give Sonia Gandhi a handle over Gehlot who arrived in Delhi today and is expected to meet her amid indications that she still wants him to run for Congress presidency, something he does not appear keen on.

Back in Rajasthan several ministers close to Gehlot said he had been elected for five years and will complete his term as chief minister.

Much will depend on whether Sonia Gandhi can convince Gehlot to handle the AICC chief's post and let the CM issue be decided by her.

Everything remains fluid as of now with nominations, like all Congress exercises, too, expected to stretch into the death overs.

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