Congress MP Rahul Gandhi amazed everyone yesterday as he declared Mallikarjun Kharge new president of the party even as counting of votes was still underway. Amid allegations of rigging and ‘uneven playing field’, Rahul’s early announcement raised questiones if the polls were actually fixed as alleged by Shashi Tharoor.
Now Congress has come up with a clarification and explained how and why Rahul Gandhi knew who the president of the party will be even as results were due.
Issuing a clarification, General Secretary of Congress, newly appointed as in-charge of Communication, Jairam Ramesh said that “the direction of voting was quite clear.”
“There have been erroneous media reports that Rahul Gandhi announced Kharge-ji as Congress President during his press meet that began at Adoni at around 1pm. The fact is that the direction of voting was quite clear before the press meet began,” Jairam Ramesh said.
Rahul declared Kharge president
Rahul Gandhi was addressing a press conference on Wednesday in Andhra Pradesh’s Coonoor when he was asked about Congress President’s role. “I can’t comment on Congress President’s role, that’s for Mr Kharge to comment on.”
“The new president will decide what my role will be,” he said while answering a question, adding, “Ask Kharge ji and Sonia ji,” referring to the frontrunning candidate, Mallikarjun Kharge.
When asked about the rigging allegations in the Congress presidential polls, Rahul Gandhi said, “We are the only political party in country that holds polls and has an election commission. I have worked with Mistry ji (Cong CEC chairman), he’s straightforward. Issues will be addressed to EC, who will take a decision.”
Shashi Tharoor alleges rigging
Shashi Tharoor’s election agent Salman Soz had complained about violation of polling norms during the Congress president election. Salman Soz had raised certain issues with the CEA and has been in communication with CEA chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
“Our campaign wants to bring to your attention extremely serious irregularities in the conduct of the election in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As you will see, the facts are damning and the election process in UP is devoid of credibility and integrity,” the letter read.
Meanwhile, Mistry has expressed satisfaction with the Congress president election process, saying it was “free, fair and transparent”.
Mallikarjun Kharge: The new Congress chief
Mallikarjun Kharge, who won the Congress presidential elections with 7897 votes, will now replace Sonia Gandhi as the next president of the grand old party. His contender and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who had been alleging ‘uneven playing field’, got 1072 votes.
Shashi Tharoor, who garnered nearly 1,100 votes, conceded defeat minutes after the announcement and said that the “revival of our party has truly begun today”.
