Notification for the election of Congress President will be issued on Thursday. With this, the process of choosing the person who will hold the highest office of the country's oldest political party will formally start. This notification will be issued by the Central Election Authority headed by senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry. However, many state Congress committees have passed a resolution asking Rahul Gandhi to take over the reins of the party once again.

After Rahul Gandhi indicated that he would not take over the reins of the party, now the chances of a contest for the post of Congress President have increased. Senior party leader Shashi Tharoor has already indicated to contest the elections, so Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot is also likely to contest. Gehlot had said in the Congress Legislature Party meeting in Jaipur on Tuesday that if he files nomination for the post of party president, a message will come to the MLAs to reach Delhi.

Meanwhile, several state Congress committees have passed resolutions saying that Rahul Gandhi should once again take over the reins of the party. On the other hand, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh said that the resolutions passed by various PCCs are not binding. He also says that no one has been asked to pass the resolution. These resolutions were passed by these Congress units after Rahul Gandhi had indicated in Kanyakumari on September 9 that he stood by his old decision of not becoming the party president.

With Rahul Gandhi sticking to his stand, now after 22 years, there are strong chances of an electoral contest for the post of Congress President. In the year 2000, there was a contest between Sonia Gandhi and Jitendra Prasad, in which Prasad was defeated. Earlier, in 1997, there was a contest between Sitaram Kesari, Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot for the post of President in which Kesari won.

When asked whether Rahul Gandhi would file his nomination papers, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal had said on Tuesday, "It is for Rahul Gandhi to decide and he has not told us anything about it. After assuming the responsibility of party chief." Despite appeals made to Rahul, the former Congress president had said earlier this month that he had taken a decision but would not reveal his plans. If he does not contest the upcoming elections, he will tell the reason for it.

According to the announced schedule for the election of Congress President, the notification will be issued on September 22 and the process of filing nominations will go on from September 24 to 30. 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.