Contesting Congress prez poll as no Gandhi member running for post: Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed regret that none from the Gandhi family was running for the party chief's post and said he took the plunge on advice of all in the party.

As part of his campaign for the AICC presidential post, Kharge visited the headquarters of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee in Vijayawada.

Kharge said he played a long innings in Karnataka politics and contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 on the advice of current party president Sonia Gandhi.

"Election for the Congress president's post became inevitable as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka refused to take it up. So I have jumped into the fray for the president's post on the advice of all in the party," Kharge told reporters after addressing the AP Congress leaders.

"I served as Union Labour and Social Justice minister," he said and also mentioned his tenure as Congress party leader in Lok Sabha.

Kharge said he would implement the Udaipur Declaration of offering 50 per cent of p