It's confirmed. No Gandhi as Congress president this time!

New Delhi, Sep 23: Will he? Won't he? Well, the buzz around whether Rahul Gandhi will contest for the post of Congress president seems to have finally settled down with him making it clear once again that no one from the Gandhi family is going to contest for the topmost post of the party this time.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has confirmed that the party leader Rahul Gandhi had made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will contest for the topmost post of the party in Congress' presidential elections scheduled in October. Rahul's remark comes 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.

Gehlot further said, "I have requested Rahul Gandhi multiple times to accept everyone's proposal to become the Congress President. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family should become the next chief."

Notably, Gehlot is believed to be the Gandhis' leading choice for the role as the Congress prepares for its first non-Gandhi chief in over 20 years.

Earlier, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh confirmed that no one from the Gandhi family will contest the upcoming party president election."I will do whatever the Congress President orders me to do. I don't intend to (contest) yet," Digvijaya Singh said when asked about his intention to contest Congress President Election.

Gehlot is likely to file his nomination papers on Monday. Congress MP Shashi Tharoor was the first to declare his intention to run for president and he sought a go-ahead from Sonia Gandhi early.

Gehlot and Tharoor are seen as the likely contenders for the upcoming election. However, Congress committees across the country are holding meetings wherein a resolution is being passed stating that "we authorise the incoming Congress president to appoint PCC and AICC members.

Meanwhile, the notification for the election of the Congress President's post was issued on Thursday and with this, the process of choosing the person who will hold the highest office of the country's oldest political party will formally begin.

This notification will be issued by the Central Election Authority headed by senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry.

As per the announced schedule for the election of Congress President, after the notification, the process of filing nominations will go on from September 24 to 30.

The date of scrutiny of the nomination papers would be October 1. The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8. In case of more than one candidate, voting will be held on October 17 and results will be declared on October 19.