Mallikarjun Kharge vs Shashi Tharoor: Change of guard inches closer as Congress to elect non-Gandhi leader today

New Delhi: Over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates, which form the electoral college, are set to elect the Congress party's president on Monday (October 17). The two senior party leaders- Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge- are in the fray for the post of AICC chief. Voting would take place at the AICC headquarters here and at over 65 polling booths across the country in an electoral test which is taking place for the sixth time in the party's 137-year history. The voting will be done between 10 am and 4 pm and the results will be declared on October 19. The Congress party will have a non-Gandhi president in more than 24 years following this election. 

"The delegates from all states will vote at their respective polling stations with a `tick` mark for the candidate they support. Arrangements have been made for smooth polling," said Central Election Authority Chairman of Congress Madhusudan Mistry, adding "Ballot boxes will reach Delhi on Oct 18 and counting of votes will be done on October 19. Polling booth set up at AICC as well, where over 50 people will vote. The whole polling process will be fair and free, no doubt about that."

Also read: Will Congress vote on 'Antaratma ki awaaz' today?

About 22 years ago, Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of President against Sonia Gandhi in which Sonia emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years. Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party, having held the office for over twenty years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019. This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President. This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year-old history that polls will be held to elect the President of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed.

Congress Party to vote today to elect its next president. Senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are in the fray.

The counting of votes and declaration of results will take place in Delhi on October 19.

Visuals from AICC Headquarters, Delhi pic.twitter.com/bPwfdv1kZ0 — ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2022

Apart from the Congress headquarters in the states, the voting facilities will also be available at the party`s central headquarters at 24 Akbar Road. In Delhi, those delegates can cast their vote who have obtained prior permission from the Central Election Authority to cast their vote in Delhi instead of their own state.

Congress Working Committee members including Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Priyanka Gandhi and some senior leaders will vote in the booth at the Congress headquarters. About 40 delegates involved in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, including Rahul Gandhi, will reportedly cast their vote in the camp itself. A polling station is being set up at the Sanganakallu campsite in Bellary.

The two contestants Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge will cast their votes in their respective state`s headquarters Trivendram and Bengaluru. After voting, the ballot boxes from all the states will be brought back to Delhi, where the results will be announced after the counting of votes on October 19. 

Ahead of the polls, Congress Presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor told media persons, "There`s no problem with our ideology, but I want to bring a change in our way of work... Mallikarjun Kharge is an experienced leader, if he wins, we`ll work in cooperation naturally." Even though Tharoor raised issues of uneven playing field during the campaign, both candidates and the party have maintained that the Gandhis are neutral and that there is no "official candidate".

Kharge and Tharoor made fervent appeals on the last day of the campaign with the former being in Bengaluru and the latter in Lucknow as part of the campaign to woo delegates.

Speaking in Bengaluru, Kharge reportedly said that he would have no shame in taking the advice and support of the Gandhi family in running the party affairs, in case he becomes its president, as they have struggled and put their strength for its growth. The veteran leader said he is the "delegates' candidate" in these polls.

Tharoor, however, took a veiled dig at some senior leaders supporting Kharge, saying some colleagues were "indulging in 'Netagiri' and telling party workers" that they know whom Sonia Gandhi wants 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, he said in Lucknow and urged the Congress delegates to listen to their hearts while voting to elect the new party president.

Tharoor asserted that in the change he envisions, the party's "values and loyalties" will remain the same with only the ways of achieving the goals undergoing a transformation.

Electors in the Congress presidential polls have been asked to put a tick mark against the name of their choice on the ballot paper after AICC president candidate Shashi Tharoor's team took up with the party's top poll body the issue of its earlier directive that voters write "1" to reflect their preference, citing that it may lead to confusion.

"The voters are instructed to put a tick mark in the box in front of the candidate whom they wish to vote for. Putting any other symbol or writing a number would make the vote invalid," the directive from Mistry's office said.

(With ANI/PTI Inputs)