CHENNAI: Congressman and Thiruvananthapuram-based MP Shashi Tharoor announced on Thursday that he would not withdraw his name from consideration for the October 17 election to fill the position of Congress party president.

He assured the media persons, "Rumors that I am going to withdraw are false; I will not withdraw. The Congress leader added that party leaders and cadres were lending him a lot of support.

The former Union minister added that he had not requested that other candidates withdraw their candidacies because he was a democratically inclined individual. He asserted that the country needed a powerful Congress party to compete with the BJP.

Tharoor, who is gaining support,  said he wants to turn the Congress into a "party of young India." He added that the youth, who are the nation's future, support him and that his expectations are of this youthful generation, which makes up 65% of the country's population.

He also claimed that the Gandhi family supported no particular candidate and that the family welcomed free and fair elections.

Party associates from all throughout the nation have asked him to run for office, he said.

The senior Congressman added that he was receiving "excellent ground support from Tamil Nadu" and expressed confidence in the election's outcome. Prior to that, Tharoor left floral tributes at the monuments to the late Rajiv Gandhi and K. Kamaraj, the former chief minister of Tamil Nadu.

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