Who will replace Mallikarjun Kharge as Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha? See details here

Kharge, flanked by top Congress leaders, had filed 14 sets of nomination papers with the proposers including Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, A K Antony, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and members from the G-23 ginger group comprising Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and Manish Tewari.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge resigned as the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, a day after he filed his nomination papers for the AICC president's election.

Kharge's resignation, which the 80-year-old leader sent to Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday night, is in line with the party's declared 'One person, One post' principle that was announced at the Udaipur 'Chintan Shivir' in May.

With this, it can be seen the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha is vacant and who will replace the veteran Congress leader has remained a major question in the party.

It is reportedly said that senior leaders P Chidambaram and Digvijaya Singh are learnt to be the front-runners to take on the mantle of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Pramod Tiwari is also said to be in the running for the post.

On Friday, the stage was set for a contest between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for the Congress president's post. Kharge, a Dalit leader from Karnataka, has emerged as the clear favourite. The nomination of KN Tripathi, a former Jharkhand minister, has been rejected.

Kharge, Tharoor and Tripathi filed nominations on September 30, the last day of the process, which saw the AICC headquarters come back to life after a long time, with workers swarming the complex.

Kharge, flanked by top Congress leaders, had filed 14 sets of nomination papers with the proposers including Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, A K Antony, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik and members from the G-23 ginger group comprising Anand Sharma, Bhupinder Hooda, Prithviraj Chavan and Manish Tewari.