According to sources, Tharoor wrote to Congress election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry saying the lists should be made public as everyone should know who can stand and who can vote.
Congressman Thiruvananthapuram has joined a growing list of congressional leaders, such as party spokesman Manish Tewari, Assam MP Pradyut Bordoloi, and Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram, who have recently made similar demands.
Because the leaders want the publication of the electoral lists
The request to make the electoral lists public (list of voters) comes a few weeks before the long-awaited elections for the AICC office, which are scheduled for October 17.
With interim president Sonia Gandhi and former president Rahul Gandhi not interested in holding the office, there is a loud buzz that a non-Gandhi leader might contest this time around.
The nomination process for the election includes 10 proponents who are delegates from the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).
According to sources, Tharoor said it is important to know these delegates as documents can be rejected if their names do not appear on the final list.
“… I think it’s important that everyone has transparency on the electoral roll. If that’s what Manish asked, then I’m sure it’s a principle everyone would agree on. Everyone should know who can stand and who can vote”, said Tharoor, who expressed his intention to contest the party’s presidential election, in a previous function.
He added that there is nothing wrong with what Tewari said.
Tewari, who is among the leaders of the G23 along with Tharoor, questioned Congress for failing to make voter names public for the party chairman’s polls and said it must be posted on the All India Congress Committee website to a “free and fair” process.
Karti supported the view, saying that every election requires a well-defined constituency.
Meanwhile, Mistry said the elections are held transparently and that the entire electoral process is free and fair.
Earlier this week he said that according to the constitution of Congress, electoral rolls cannot be made public, but can be given to anyone who opposes the election.
Boss not Gandhi?
Tharoor’s formal request for electoral rolls to be made public comes amid strong speculation that he could participate in the October elections. The nomination process will begin on September 24th.
It has been a long-pending demand from various Congressional leaders, most notably the G-23, that a non-Gandhi leader should be at the helm of business.
The demand grew stronger after Congress suffered a series of defeats in state and national elections in recent years under Sonia and Rahul.
Earlier, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said the election to the top of the Congress “is good for the party”.
He said that if an election for the post of Congress president is held, it will help garner people’s attention and the party’s style of functioning, ideology, values and prospects for the country will be discussed again. .
Tharoor urged many candidates to come forward and participate in the elections.
Not just Tharoor, many other leaders had emerged as likely to replace the Gandhis. These included Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot and opposition leader to Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
However, both leaders categorically stated that they would support Rahul for the post.
With Tharoor keeping his options open, he is likely to become the main challenger this time around.
The last non-Gandhi president elected to the top of Congress was Sitaram Kesri, who was at the helm of the party from 1996 to 1998.
Sonia replaced Kesri and served as boss until 2017. She passed the baton to her son Rahul Gandhi, who led the party until 2019 but resigned after the Lok Sabha election beating. Since then, Sonia has served as interim president of the party.
(With input from agencies)
