Scrutiny over, Rahul Gandhi set to be next Congress president

NEW DELHI: Rahul Gandhi was on Tuesday formally declared as the only candidate in fray for the election to the post of Congress president.

This followed scrutiny of 89 nominations papers proposing him for the top post that were found valid. While this makes Gandhi the de facto Congress president-elect, the formal announcement of his elevation will be made only on December 11, which is the last day for withdrawal of nominations.

“We have scrutanised each nomination paper and found all the 89 papers are valid,” said Mullappally Ramachandran, the returning officer for the election of Congress president.

“Now only one validly nominated candidate – Rahul Gandhi – is left in the fray for the election for the post of the Congress president.”