On Tuesday, senior leader and Congress president aspirant Shashi Tharoor claimed that several party leaders had asked Rahul Gandhi to make Tharoor withdraw his candidature.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP who is in Kerala for the party election campaign told the media that Rahul Gandhi has assured that he will not ask Tharoor to withdraw as this election will benefit the party.
#BREAKING Rahul Gandhi backs Shashi Tharoor. Tharoor said that “Rahul Gandhi was asked to request me to withdraw from Congress president polls”@_pallavighosh with details
— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 5, 2022
(@toyasingh)#CongressPresidentialPolls #Congres #RahulGandhi #ShashiTharoor pic.twitter.com/ouVhUIaAx6
“He reminded me that he has been saying so for the past ten years that there must be a contest for the party chief’s post.
“He also told me that some people have asked him to ask me to withdraw my candidature. He assured me that he won’t. He advised me to remain in the race and run for office, Tharoor said.
Tharoor also stated that he never expected the big-wigs of the party to support him and even now he has no such expectations.
In addition, Tharoor stated that he would not abandon his campaign for the election in order to appease people who had up until this point supported him.
“I was not expecting any support from the big leaders of the party and I am not expecting that now either. In fact, I met party workers at Nagpur, Wardha, and then Hyderabad. They are the ones who asked me to contest and not back away from it.
Tharoor asserted that his biggest plus point is the young party leaders and workers form the majority of his supporters while also stating that he needs support from everyone.
In addition, Tharoor stated that while he respects all senior party leaders, he has noticed some “partiality” on the part of certain of their top leaders and that their votes are equally as important as those of any other Congress members or employees.
“I have seen a partiality on the part of some top leaders of the party. I respect all senior leaders, but the vote of an office bearer, senior leader, or a Congress worker has the same weightage when it is being counted.”
Notably, this statement came after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran publicly declared his support for veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the party president’s post.
When asked if Sudhakaran’s public backing of Kharge was meant to deter others from supporting him, Tharoor responded, “Maybe. I’m not saying that, though. I don’t have to figure out what’s going on in other people’s minds. One thing I will say is that the ballot is secret, regardless of what is spoken publicly or secretly.”
The Thiruvananthapuram MP reacted to Sudhakaran’s statement by saying that the KPCC chairman likely voiced his personal opinion and that “there is nothing wrong with that.”
“He is unable to give instructions because it is crystal obvious from the party’s circular that office holders are not permitted to support candidates. However, don’t question me about it. It is up to the electoral authority to take action if they choose to,” he said.
The election circular issued by the Congress party on Monday stated that: “ AICC general secretaries/ in-charges, secretaries, joint secretaries, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, heads of frontal organizations, chiefs of departments, cells, and all official spokespersons “shall not campaign for or against contesting candidates.”
“If the office bearers want to support any candidate and participate in the campaign process, they first need to resign from their organizational post,” the circular added.
Tharoor in Nagpur had said that Mallikarjun Kharge despite being among the top 3 leaders of the party cannot bring the change and will only carry forward the existing system.
“We aren’t enemies, it’s not war. It’s a poll for our party’s future. Kharge Ji comes in the top 3 leaders of the Congress party. Leaders like him can’t bring change and will continue the existing system. I’ll bring change as per expectations of party workers,” Tharoor said.
In response to Shashi Tharoor, Kharge claimed that although he had suggested a consensus candidate to his fellow candidate, the Lok Sabha MP pushed on a contest for the “sake of democracy.”
On October 17, voting will take place in the presidential election for Congress. On October 19, the vote-counting process will begin, and the results will be announced that same day. The poll will be attended by around 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) representatives.
