Congress President election: Leader of Opposition, MLAs from MP to propose Digvijaya Singh's name 

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Leader Opposition in state legislative assembly, Madhya Pradesh Govind Singh and several MLAs from here will propose the name of senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh (75) for the post of party president, as per Govind Singh's statement.

Digvijaya Singh, presently Rajya Sabha member from Madhya Pradesh, is likely to file his nomination papers in the election to Congress president post on Friday which happens to be the last day for filing the nomination papers.

As per a Congress leader, as many as 12 Congress MLAs will be proposers from the state for Digvijaya. Besides the leader Opposition Govind Singh the MLAs who are likely to be proposers include Hina Kanwre, Jitu Patwari, P C Sharma, Lakhan Singh Yadav, Alok Chaturvedi, Arif Masood, Kantilal Bhuria, Ramlal Malviya, Surendra Singh Baghel, Vipin Vankhede and Kamleshwar Patel.

Govind Singh, en route to Delhi by Shatabdi Express train confirmed. that he had sent the list of these MLAs to Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath.

Singh who is accompanying Rahul Gandhi in the latter's Bharat Jodo Yatra left for Delhi from Kerala on Wednesday night, as per a report. 

Talking to media persons, Govind Singh said as per instructions of the state Congress president Kamal Nath he along with several MLAs would proceed to Delhi to propose the name of Digvijaya Singh in the election to the post of Congress president. 

Govind Singh said as far as Digvijaya Singh's decision to file the nomination papers for the post was concerned he happened to be such a leader who would never take such a decision without a nod from the Congress high command. 

He said Digvijaya Singh was the most suitable leader for the post given his vast political and administrative experience. 

"Why don't you take me seriously?"

Digvijaya Singh told reporters at the Congress headquarters in Delhi that he will most probably file his nomination on Friday. He also met Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, his likely rival in the election, during the day. Asked if he was contesting the election at the behest of the party leadership, Singh said, "I am responsible for myself." "Wait till the date of withdrawal," said the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister when asked if he will remain in the fray. Asked if he was merely posturing, the Congress leader said, "Why don't you take me seriously?"