Congress presidential elections: Stage set for Tharoor, Kharge face-off
Tharoor (left) vs Kharge for congress president
Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will cast their votes to choose the new Congress president on Monday in a historic decision. In its 137-year history, the party has chosen a new leader through elections six times.Senior party figures Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are involved in the contest. While Tharoor has positioned himself as a candidate of change, senior leader Kharge is regarded as the "unofficial official candidate" of the Gandhi family.
A non-Gandhi will assume the role of party leader for the first time in 24 years. Almost 65 additional polling places spread across different states as well as the AICC headquarters in Delhi will all use secret voting systems to conduct the election.
The voters are required to check the box next to the name of the candidate they intend to support. The vote would be void if any other symbol or number were written, according toparty Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
Sonia Gandhi, the party's interim president, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, its general secretary, are most likely to vote at the AICC headquarters, while Rahul Gandhi and 40 other Bharat Jodo Yatris will vote at a campsite in Sanganakallu, Karnataka.
Karnataka veteran Kharge (80), who has been involved in politics for half a decade, stated on Sunday that, should he be chosen as the party's leader, he would not feel guilty about following the Gandhis' advise.Responding to allegations of being remote-controlled by Gandhis, Kharge said: "The BJP indulges in such a campaign and others follow it. Sonia Gandhi has worked for 20 years in the organisation...Rahul Gandhi was also president...they have struggled for the party and put their strength for its growth."
Parliamentarian Shashi Tharoor, 66, claimed that amid the transformation he foresees, the party's "values and loyalty" will remain the same, with the means of achieving the objectives changing. In addition, he made a subtle jab at certain top figures who were endorsing Kharge, claiming that some of them were "indulging in 'netagiri' and informing party people" who Sonia Gandhi wanted to be elected.
"If anyone has "fear or doubt" in their mind, the party has made it clear that it will be a secret ballot," Tharoor said in Lucknow and urged the Congress delegates to listen to their hearts while voting to elect the new party president.
The ballot boxes will be transported to Delhi after voting so that they can be counted there. On October 19, the outcomes will be released.
(With inputs from agencies)
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