As Cong's prez race intensifies, a look at the three contenders

New Delhi, Sep 29: With nominations for Congress president elections came to an end, Mallikarjun Kharge, Shashi Tharoor and Former Jharkhand MLA K N Tripathi have formalised their candidature for the Congress president election by filing their nominations. Earlier, both Digvijaya Singh and Ashok Gehlot stated that they have dropped out of the party chief race.

As race for Congress president post heats up, here is a little more on the three top contenders for the post:

Shashi Tharoor

The first to put his hat in the ring for the top post was Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. He is a man of many talents. Often found on the better end of his English vocabulary, Tharoor is mostly admired by the youth. Tharoor, who won three Lok Sabha elections in a row is known to have a strong understanding of international relations and politics Under the UPA-led government, Tharoor has served as the Minister of State for External Affairs (2009-2010) and Minister of Human Resource Development (2012-2014).

However, Tharoor has been a part of the 'G-23'- group that demanded an organisational overhaul of the party. It's widely anticipated that Tharoor may not get the support of the Gandhi family. Also, he is comparatively new in the party since he joined the Grand old party in 2009.

Mallikarjun Kharge

Kharge, a former Union minister and a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist, is one of the most experienced persons in the party. He is a top-ranking leader in Karnataka politics. A Dalit, the son of a mill worker from the once-extremely backward Gulbarga is a self-made man. He has a vast organisational and administrative experience. Kharge, 80, has won elections for a record 10 consecutive times and is now the Leader of the Opposition of Rajya Sabha. A nine-term MLA in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (from 1972 to 2009), Kharge has got a sort of fan following for his Hindi. People who have seen him for decades say Kharge could rise in the party hierarchy because of his loyalty, patience and vast administrative experience.

Jharkhand MLA KN Tripathi

Tripathi served as the national president of the Congress-affiliated Indian National Trade Union Congress (Tripathi faction). According to ANI, Tripathi, who belongs to a farmer's family, left the Indian Air force to join politics. In 2005, he contested from the Daltonganj Assembly constituency for the first time on a Congress ticket but lost. However, he won in the 2009 Assembly elections and was made minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Labour Department in the Jharkhand government.