Leaders in Kerala who have weighed in on the race for Congress president say they would not be voting against Shashi Tharoor

On Wednesday, senior Congress leaders in Kerala indicated they were not opposed to Shashi Tharoor, who has made an aggressive bid to the party's top job, but said they believed veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge was more qualified for the role.

Party elders and legislators K Sudhakaran and K Muraleedharan have also insisted that their statements of support for particular candidates are merely expressions of their own personal pref....