Ahead of the Congress Presidential Elections that are scheduled to take place on October 17, party leader Manish Tewari has questioned the fairness of the elections and has suggested that there might be lapses in the party’s electoral process. Tewari on Wednesday stated that the party had not made public the electoral roll and was just claiming that there would be free and fair elections to elect the party president.
According to the reports, Tewari also alleged that there was no transparency in the electoral process and that the party was hiding the names and addresses of electors. “Essence of a fair and free process is names and addresses of electors must be published on INC party’s website in a transparent manner. How can there be a fair & free election without a publicly available electoral roll?”, he tweeted.
1/1 With great respect @MD_Mistry ji How can there be a fair & free election without a publicly available electoral roll ? Essence of a fair & free process is names & addresses of electors must be published on @INCIndia website in a transparent manner. https://t.co/7lRqSwqseV
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 31, 2022
Tewari’s tweet was directed to the party’s central election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry who earlier had said that ‘there should not be any doubt in anyone’s mind about the fairness of the electoral process. Mistry had also stated that those who wish to see the electoral rolls can contact the Pradesh Congress Committees (PCC).
Responding to this Tewari on Wednesday said, “Why should someone have to go to every PCC office in the country to find out who the electors are? This does not happen in a club election also with great respect. How can someone consider running if he/she does not know who electors are If someone has to file his/her nomination and gets it proposed by 10 Congresspersons as is requirement CEA can reject it saying they are not valid electors”.
1/3 election not to 28 PCC’s & 8 TCC’s.Why should someone have to go to every PCC office in the country to find out who the electors are ? This does not happen in a club election also with great respect. In interests of fairness & transparency I urge your gods self to publish
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 31, 2022
Meanwhile, Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also highlighted the importance of a transparent electoral college. “Every election needs a well-defined and clear electoral college. The process of forming the electoral college must also be clear, well-defined, and transparent. An ad hoc electoral college is no electoral college”, he tweeted on August 31.
Tewari further noted that Chidambaram’s observation was accurate and reiterated that for any election to be kosher the electoral college must be constitutionally constituted. Earlier, Congress leader Anand Sharma had also raised the issue in a CWC meeting on Sunday. He had alleged that there was no clarity on the PCC delegates who would vote in the election for Congress president. He also said that many State-level leaders were not aware of the list of delegates that make up the 9,000-member strong electoral college.
MyColleague in Parliament @KartiPC is spot on. For any election to be kosher the electoral college must be constitutionally constituted. I read in the papers @AnandSharmaINC had articulated this widely shared concern in the CWC & he even publicly confirmed that he had raised it. https://t.co/50VUqkUsIy
— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 31, 2022
Mistry at that time too had stated that those who wanted to see their names could go to the PCC office and confirm. “What is the problem? I don’t understand”, he had asked. In an exclusive interview with the Indian Express, on being asked why were the electoral rolls not published on the INC website, Mistry said that electoral rolls were not for the general public. “It is an organizational election, our members can have it. It is our property”, he was quoted.
To note, on August 30, Mistry rejected former senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad’s allegation that the Congress’s presidential polls are a farce and reiterated that there should not be any doubt in anyone’s mind about the fairness of the electoral process.
The CWC determined on August 28 that the election for Congress president will take place on October 17 and that if there are several candidates, the counting will take place on October 19. Reports mention that though the electoral process will officially begin on September 22, the party’s central election authority has begun informing the PCC about the electoral system and has sent the pro forma of the election form that aspiring presidential candidates must fill out.
