THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Shashi Tharoor, a senior member of the Congress, decalred on Monday that the Gandhi family has no objections to him running for party president.

After the Thiruvananthapuram MP's morning session of the Bharat Jodo yatra concluded at Pattambi in the Palakkad district, he paid Rahul Gandhi a brief visit. 

I" came and met Rahul Gandhi."  I spoke to the 3 people in the Gandhi family and they have no issue with contesting for it. I still haven't decided, and I've been hearing opinions from all across the country, he added.

With a smile, he replied, "Yes, absolutely, but not everyone would support and my support would increase when the nomination is filed," when asked if he anticipates support from the Congress leaders in Kerala. The indication is that Tharoor will submit his nomination on Friday, which is the final day for doing so.

The nomination applications were collected by Tharoor last Saturday just after the seven-day timeframe for filing documents opened. The representative of Tharoor arrived at the AICC headquarters with a letter of authorization from the Thiruvananthapuram MP, and Madhusudan Mistry, the head of the Congress Central Election Authority, handed him five sets of nomination papers.

When several senior Congress leaders in Kerala want Rahul to lead the party, Tharoor enters the race for the party presidency. Former state president K Muraleedharan and senior leader Ramesh Chennithala have publicly stated that Rahul is supported by the party in Kerala.

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