THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Congress presidential candidate Dr.Shashi Tharoor said no contestant could aspire for an easy victory in the organisational elections.
After casting his ballot at the Indira Bhavan headquarters of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), Tharoor told reporters, "It is a friendly contest, but a tough one." Before casting his ballot, Tharoor claimed to have spoken with Mallikarjun Kharge, his opponent, and sought his blessing.
The congress needed change instead of continuity. In succeeding Lok Sabha elections, its vote share had decreased. Of the 45 Assembly seats it recently fought, Congress lost 36 of them. If not now, when? questioned Tharoor. He said, his electoral platform emphasised the decentralisation of organisational control. It is necessary to modify top-down management theory and practise. The rank-and-file should have more power, according to Congress. "For instance, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president must give his or her approval before a Pradesh Congress Committee can name a new District Congress Committee president. In order to turn Congress into an electoral machine, such strict systems must make way for dramatic organisational reforms. We cannot once more grant the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) absolute authority ", Tharoor said. He urged Congress to provide employees the freedom to take initiative and use judgement. A similar reform would hasten the decision-making process and provide Congress the flexibility it needs to respond quickly to social, political, and livelihood challenges at all levels of society.
The foundation of inner-party democracy was the decentralisation of organisational power. "The Congress party's foundation is made up of block presidents. They were too important for the party to ignore ", Tharoor declared. Tharoor had designated three Congress block panchayat presidents as his voting representatives in an apparent attempt to emphasise the issue. Kharge's faction, on the other hand, had designated two MPs and a former minister as its representatives. Tharoor claimed to have canvassed in 10 States and gotten in touch with the majority of the electoral college's 9.308 members. "The reviews are favourable. No contender should anticipate a walkover. There will be a sizable number of votes for both sides. The celebration of party democracy will take place "he declared.
Tharoor refrained from criticising prominent KPCC figures who had publicly supported Kharge. Some, according to him, gave off the impression that Kharge was well liked by the Gandhis.
"Sonia Gandhi, the head of the AICC, has consistently stated that no candidate is the AICC's official choice. I believe what she says. Any attempt to publicly pick a side in the debate is in opposition to the AICC's official position "he declared.
When journalists asked V.D. Satheesan, the leader of the opposition, at the Indira Bhavan, he repeated the same statement. I follow party rules, and I won't go too far by overtly supporting one candidate over the other for fear of alienating other voters, he declared. Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, the working president of the KPCC, said he wishes Tharoor had dropped out of the race. "By choosing not to participate in the contest, a number of other senior leaders paved the way for veteran Kharge to be appointed AICC president. Tharoor might have provided a comparable example "he declared.
AICC office in New Delhi to formally endorse Kharge's candidacy, Congress veteran A.K. Antony stated the election was not about particular individuals but rather inner-party democracy.
The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] and the Bharathiya Janata Party, according to Antony, could not lay claim to a similar tradition. He said, "The BJP nominates its presidents through a murky process. Oommen Chandy, a former chief minister, and Ramesh Chennithala, a congressman, used similar language. At Indira Bhavan, voting for the Congress party began at ten in the morning. Members of the KPCC lined up to cast their ballots.
The election process is being watched by the Kerala Pradesh Returning Officer, G. Parameswara, and Assistant Returning Officer, V.K. Arivazhagan. They stated that shortly after the polls closed at 4 p.m., the two sealed ballot boxes would be sent to New Delhi.
Voting is underway at AICC office in Tharoor vs Kharge contest
Tharoor Vs Kharge today: Congress set for AICC president after 24-yrs
Presidential election: Is Congress 'playing' with Shashi Tharoor?