Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot would be running for the Congress president, reports ndtv.com.

Earlier, his party colleague and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor got a go-ahead from party interim chief Sonia Gandhi to contest.

Interestingly, Rajasthan unit of the party passed a resolution on Saturday to make Rahul Gandhi the party president.

Interestingly, Gehlot had earlier been sounded out about donning the mantle but firmly argued before Sonia that Rahul’s pullout would further demoralise the workers.

Gehlot is said to have told Sonia that Rahul should take the final decision only after ascertaining the views of the All India Congress Committee members and Pradesh Congress Committee delegates.

“I am there for the party, I am fighting the RSS-BJP with all my might,” Rahul who is currently busy with the Bharat Jodo Yatra had told his colleagues when they pleaded with him to take over the party’s reins.

Gehlot is being seen as the ideal person though one lobby is reportedly pushing for Mukul Wasnik on the grounds of seniority. Mallikarjun Kharge’s name too has been floated. While the party workers want none of them, senior leaders would settle for Gehlot, who was himself not too keen to relinquish the chief minister’s job.