'...spent 1/10th of his time at 24, Akbar Road...' 'He would have met thousands of party workers and ordinary Congress supporters who have love for the party.' 'Left of Centre intellectuals have shaped Rahul's values, but he lacks earthiness.'
The Congress's central election authority has issued a directive that all AICC general secretaries, state in-charges, secretaries and joint secretaries would cast their vote in the party's presidential polls either at their home state or at the party headquarters in New Delhi and not in their assigned state.
Tharoor reached the AICC headquarters in New Delhi and spoke to Mistry at his office, a day before the Congress' central election authority is to issue the notification for the polls to elect the next Congress president.
Tharoor's close aide Aalim Javeri collected the forms from the office of the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on the first day of the start of the nomination process, all but confirming an electoral face-off for the top party post with Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Chairman of central election authority Madhusudan Mistri will be available in Congress headquarters in the national capital to take the nomination papers as returning officer of the election.
In instructions for polling issued on Saturday, Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry had said Pradesh Congress Committee members 'will mark '1' on the ballot paper against the name of the candidate and fold the ballot paper to put it into the ballot box'.
The Day in Politics: Featuring Dr Singh, Messrs Kejriwal and Sisodia and Mamatadi.
Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor on Tuesday claimed many electors have been instructed by 'their leaders' to support his rival but they may eventually vote for him in a secret ballot.
Ajit Pawar was seen as an heir-apparent in the NCP, but his dalliances with the Bharatiya Janata Party, including an early morning swearing-in as Maharashtra deputy chief minister along with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis in 2019, had not been received well by the party.
The Congress presidential polls will be held by a secret ballot and no one will get to know who voted for whom, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Wednesday, asserting that a level-playing field has been ensured for both candidates.
Congress's Lok Sabha members Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque said this list must be made available in order to verify who is entitled to nominate a candidate and who is entitled to vote.
The Congress' central election authority on Thursday issued a notification for the All India Congress Committee president polls, setting the ball rolling for electing the successor to the longest-serving party chief Sonia Gandhi.
Nomination forms for the post of Congress president poll have been collected by Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor and All India Congress Committee (AICC) treasurer Pawan Bansal, but Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has not done so yet, the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry said on Tuesday.
Sonia will likely be assisted by two vice presidents: Ashok Gehlot in charge of party affairs in north India with probably P Chidambaram doing likewise for south India.
Tewari's consideration to contest comes amid the reports of several party top leaders being in the fray.
A non-Gandhi is set to become the Congress president after 24 years.
While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change.
They said that as Congress MPs, they are concerned about the transparency and fairness of the election process for the president of the party.
Amid suspense over who could take on Shashi Tharoor in the Congress president polls, party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Tuesday said AICC treasurer Pawan Kumar Bansal has got nomination forms collected, adding that it may be for someone else.
Counting of votes began on Wednesday in the Congress presidential polls in which senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor faced-off for the post of All India Congress Committee (AICC) chief.
The notification for the Congress president's election will be out on September 22 by when all the PCC delegates will be finalised and electoral roll published and the election, if required, will be held on October 17.
A total of 20 forms were received during the nomination process. Four of them were rejected as signatures were repeated or did not match, he said.
Pawar made the announcement at the 25th anniversary of the party, founded by him and P A Sangma in 1999.
Sharma claimed he has received complaints that neither any virtual nor any physical meeting was held to finalise the electoral rolls, the sources said.
Filing of nominations for the post of Congress president is scheduled to begin on Saturday with a contest between Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and former Union minister Shashi Tharoor on the cards.
Mistry said the poll body satisfied the candidate on every complaint but despite that he raised all those points in the media before bringing them to "our notice".
The last electoral contest for the top post of the party took place in 2000 when Jitendra Prasada had suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of Sonia Gandhi.
Kharge or somebody else, whoever becomes the chief, he will only be a face to show, Sushil Modi said.
Congress observers for Rajasthan on Tuesday recommended disciplinary action against three key loyalists of Ashok Gehlot but did not seek any action against the chief minister, as the party scampered to resolve the crisis that has cast a shadow on the election of the party president.
Ahead of its presidential poll, the Congress on Monday issued a set of guidelines for the election, debarring party office-bearers from campaigning for candidates.
Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, Anand Sharma and Bhupinder Hooda are the members of the pro-reform G23 group who wrote a letter to party's interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor has written to the party's central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry seeking the publication of electoral rolls for the upcoming election to the post of All India Congress Committee president, sources said.
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday claimed he has the support of party workers from across the country for his bid to fight the AICC president polls.
Tharoor's campaign team has also raised 'serious issues' in the conduct of the election in Punjab and Telangana.
The Congress on Sunday announced that elections for its president will be held on October 17 with the winner being declared two days later, asserting that it is the only party in the country which undertakes such a democratic exercise.
Hectic preparations were underway at the Congress headquarters for the ceremony where party president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the first non-Gandhi to head the outfit in 24 years.
Sources said the process was stuck since Rahul Gandhi is not willing to contest the election for the post of Congress president, although all the efforts to convince him are still going on.
At the same time, Sonia Gandhi does not want to hold the post due to health reasons and Rahul wants a non-Gandhi should hold the post in place of Sonia.
Speaking to the media, Gehlot, who is in Kerala to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said, "I said earlier that I will request him (Rahul Gandhi) to accept this post when all the Congress Committees are passing resolutions in this regard. He made it clear that no one from the Gandhi family will become the next chief. He said he has decided this due to some reasons, a non-Gandhi family member will become the party chief."
However, Gehlot, said he will make one last-ditch effort to convince Rahul to take up the party president's post.
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