Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, who is running for the Congress Presidential Election, said that he finds no problem with his party’s ideology and that he is willing to work in collaboration with Mallikarjun Kharge to build the party stronger no matter who wins. Tharoor, who is a challenging veteran leader Kharge for the president’s post, will face the music tomorrow as the delegates are set to vote for the first non-Gandhi supremo.
“There is no problem with the ideology of the Congress party, but I want to bring a change in our way of working. My co-contender Mallikarjun Kharge is an experienced leader, if he wins, we will work in cooperation naturally,” said Tharoor one day ahead of the election.
Meanwhile, Tharoor, who seems to be running a lonely campaign to gather support from the party delegates with even the G-23 leaders extending support to his rival, filed an official complaint against Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot with Congress’s Central Election Authority (CEA) for openly supporting Kharge despite party’s clear guidelines.
Ashok Gehlot’s appeal video for Mallikarjun Kharge
Ashok Gehlot, who is also an office bearer in Rajasthan Congress Committee, posted a video appealing to all the members of the Rajasthan Congress to vote in Mallikarjun Kharge’s favour and also extended open support to him.
Gehlot’s appeal was in direct contrast to the party’s Central Election Authority (CEA) code of conduct that barred office-bearers from campaigning for any candidate.
“Utmost care must be taken to ensure that there is no mala fide campaign against any candidate. The same would bring disgrace to the party. The sensitivity of the election process must be upheld at any cost,” read one of the seven guidelines issued by CEA Chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
Congress Presidential Election tomorrow
Congress, which is conducting its first party poll to elect chief in over 20 years, will hold the election on October 17. The last election was in November 2000, in which party chief Sonia Gandhi defeated her rival Jitendra Prasada.
