Digvijay Singh bows out of Cong poll race; It's Gehlot vs Tharoor for now

New Delhi, Sep 23: Amid strong speculations and rumours, Congress leader Digvijay Singh has confirmed that he is not in the race for the Congress party's president post, which means the contest is between Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor for now.

Singh was addressing a press conference in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh where he said that he would follow the instruction given to him by the higher authority in Congress.

Meanwhile, earlier while addressing the media, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had confirmed that the party leader Rahul Gandhi had made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family would contest for the topmost post of the party in Congress' presidential elections scheduled in October. Rahul's remark came as the battle for the Congress presidential poll intensifies.

While addressing the media in Kerala on Friday, Gehlot said,"It's decided that I'll contest for the post of Congress president. I'll fix the date soon to file the nomination. It's a need for the Opposition to be strong considering the current position of the country.

The process of filing nominations for the organisational elections in the Congress begins on September 24 and will end on September 30.

Congress president election is interesting this year as Ashok Gehlot confirmed his candidature on Friday. Speculations are rife as Ashok Gehlot is said to have the support of the Gandhis.

After Gehlot files the presidential candidature, Rajasthan is likely to see a cabinet reshuffle in the coming days. As of now, Gehlot is the chief minister of the state.

On Thursday, Rahul Gandhi said that there will one person, one post norm in the party. So, it's expected that deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot to be elevated to the post of CM in Rajasthan.

Rahul Gandhi said the post of Congress president as an "ideological post."