Senior Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor will face each other in the election contest for the post of Congress President on Monday. With this the party is sure to get a non-Gandhi president in more than 24 years. Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) representatives will vote in a secret ballot to choose the party chief. For the sixth time in the party’s 137-year history, polling will be held at the AICC headquarters and over 65 polling stations across the country. All eyes are on this interesting contest, though Kharge, being the preferred leader of the high command, seems to have the upper hand.
Rahul Gandhi will vote in Sanganakallu, Karnataka
While party chief Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are expected to vote at the AICC headquarters here, Rahul Gandhi will vote at the Bharat Jodo Yatra camp in Karnataka’s Sanganakallu along with around 40 other passengers, who are representatives of the PCC. Tharoor will cast his vote at the Kerala Congress headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, while Kharge will cast his vote at the Karnataka Congress office in Bengaluru. While Kharge is seen as a favorite for his alleged closeness to the Gandhi family and the support of senior leaders, Tharoor has projected himself as a candidate for change.
Tharoor raised the issue of uneven competition
Even though Tharoor raised issues of uneven contest during the campaign, the party has maintained that Gandhi is neutral and there is no official candidate. In a campaign to woo the delegates, Kharge and Tharoor made loud appeals on the last day of the campaign in Bengaluru and later in Lucknow. Speaking in Bengaluru, Kharge said that if he becomes the president, he will have no shame in taking the advice and support of the Gandhi family in running the affairs of the party, as they have struggled and devoted their strength for its development.
Tharoor took a jibe at leaders who supported Kharge
Meanwhile, Tharoor took a veiled dig at some senior leaders who had supported Kharge, saying some allies are indulging in ‘netagiri’ and telling party workers that they know whom Sonia Gandhi wants to elect. If there is fear or doubt in anyone’s mind, the party has made it clear that it will be a secret ballot, he said in Lucknow and asked Congress representatives to listen to their heart while voting to elect the new party president. requested.
While the Kharge camp shared a campaign video seeking votes for him, which included scenes of Rahul Gandhi walking along with the song ‘Kandhaon se milte hai shoulder’ from the film ‘Lakshya’ in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Tharoor gave an enthusiastic The video released in the appeal on Twitter called on voters to show courage to embrace change.