G-23 seeks to go to war on electoral roll for Congress presidential poll

The G-23 leaders or change-seekers are opening a new battlefront with Congress leadership on the issue of electoral roll for the president's election with senior MP Manish Tewari now finding fault for not making public the names of electors.

In what appears to be a concerted campaign on electoral rolls after senior leader Anand Sharma raised questions, Tewari chose to take on the Central Election Committee head Madhusudan Mistry who said that the list is not being made public but it would be made available at state party headquarters and supplied to candidates.

Congress General Secretary (Organisation) K C Venugopal also made it clear that the electoral roll could not be put in public domain but “whoever approaches the PCCs, they will get it”. He said, “The beauty of Congress democracy is that anybody can contest the party president poll…Rahul has already said he will not contest.”

The counter to Mistry from Tewari came as the G-23 is learnt to have decided to up the ante on the organisational polls with the group planning to field Shashi Tharoor against the official faction's candidate. Though the odds are against them, the now diminished G-23 wants to ignite a discussion on the affairs of the party during the election process.

Soon after resigning from the party last week, Ghulam Nabi Azad also alleged that the electoral rolls were made by a "coterie running the AICC" and the election process is a "sham and farce".

A prominent G-23 leader, Tewari took to Twitter demanding that the electoral roll should be published on Congress website to ensure transparency while asking why anyone seeking to contest the election should go to the party office to get the electoral roll, as this does "not even happen in a club election".

Coming out in support, Tharoor said everybody should know who can nominate and who can vote. "Certainly, I think it's important that everybody should have transparency on the electoral rolls. If that's what Manish has asked for, then I'm sure that it's a principle that everybody would agree with. Everybody should know who can nominate and who can vote. There is nothing wrong with that," he said in Thiruvananthapuram.

Tewari also got support from Tamil Nadu MP Karti Chidambaram, son of senior leader P Chidambaram who had not signed the G-23 letter seeking clarity on leadership issue, who said, "reformists are not rebels". "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 added.

Countering both, Lok Sabha Whip Manickam Tagore tweeted, "I am a PCC member from Thiruparankundram Block in Madurai. Any 10 PCC members can propose a candidate for Congress president when the nomination starts. Why my colleagues are trying to create confusion in the electoral process? Instead we must be proud to have open system."

The war of words came as Mistry sought to dispel criticism of the process, especially by Sharma who raised questions in the Congress Working Committee.

Sharma had at the CWC meeting on August 28 to finalise the poll schedule had claimed that he had received complaints about the electoral roll and there was no transparency in its preparation. Sources said Sonia had asked Mistry to make it available as per procedures. Tewari said the CWC had announced the schedule for the Congress president election and not to state committees.

"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 and transparency I urge your gods self to publish the entire list of electors on Congress website," he said.

"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 Congress persons, as is requirement, the CEA can reject it saying they are not valid electors," he added.