Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday said even as the Nehru-Gandhi family has opted out of the contest for the Congress presidential election, he would decide whether he should throw in the hat will be known only after the election notification came out.

At the same time, Tharoor also termed as "only speculation" the reports about the possibility of him contesting for the party president's post.

Keeping all options open, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said an election to the top Congress post "is good for the party".

"There is only speculation. I have not announced anything. All I said is that there should be an election and that is good for the party," Tharoor told reporters here.

He said if an election is held to the Congress president's post, that will help gather the attention of the people and the party's style of functioning, ideology, values and its outlook for the country will again be discussed.

When asked whether he thinks it would be good for the party if someone from outside the Nehru-Gandhi family becomes the Congress president, Tharoor said they have already declared that they would not contest the polls. He supported another person assuming the top party post.

"So let many candidates come forward and participate in the election in the democratically functioning party. That is good for the party," the Thiruvananthapuram MP said responding to queries.

Referring to the request he had made to Rahul Gandhi to take the responsibility for the Congress when he quit as the party president following the 2019 Lok Sabha polls debacle, Tharoor said three years have passed and current party president Sonia Gandhi was still bearing the heavy burden.

"So, in my opinion, why not another person come to the post of the Congress president? There are lakhs of members in the party. Let's see," he said.

The Congress Working Committee on Sunday decided to hold the election for the party's full-time president on October 17.

The notification for the election will be issued on September 22, while the filing of nominations would begin on September 24 and continue till September 30, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry had said after a nearly 30-minute meeting of the CWC.