NEW DELHI: Congress treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal has now taken a nomination form from the party's Central Election Authority, source said on Tuesday. However, it was not clear whether or not he will file the nomination.

"Tharoor and Pawan Bansal have taken the nomination forms from CEA up until this point," said Madhusudan Mistry, chairman of the CEA. According to sources within the Congress, K.C. Venugopal is Rahul Gandhi's preferred candidate while Ashok Gehlot has been ruled out of consideration for the position of Congress president.

Although no final decision has been taken, senior Congress leader Kamal Nath told Sonia Gandhi that he did not want to become the party president and that he preferred to continue working for the party in Madhya Pradesh at their meeting on Monday.

As Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was being considered as a candidate for the top party position, the political drama in Rajasthan forced the Congress leadership to consider a plan B. Since Kamal Nath decided against running for president, the party now has candidates like Mukul Wasnik, Mallikarjun Kharge, Kumari Selja, etc. as choices. The election process has already begun, and the deadline for nominations is September 30.

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