Goa, May 13 -- Several senior Congress leaders remain in the race for the top post, with Ramesh Chennithala, V. D. Satheesan and K. C. Venugopal emerging as the main contenders. Over the past few days, the Congress high command has held extensive consultations with the three leaders, newly elected MLAs, MPs from Kerala, senior party functionaries, former KPCC chiefs and leaders of United Democratic Front allies.

Earlier reports suggested that the decision-making process had slowed down due to the health condition of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who was admitted to Medanta Hospital in Gurugram for routine medical check-ups. Party insiders later indicated that the final decision would depend on discussions between Rahul Gandhi a...