Some leaders openly supporting Kharge disturbs level-playing field: Tharoor on Congress prez poll

Kharge is being seen as a favourite for the top party post because of his perceived proximity to the Gandhi family

Some "big" leaders and office bearers disturbed the level-playing field for the Congress presidential election by welcoming his rival Mallikarjun Kharge on the campaign trail while not doing it for him, senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said on Thursday as he campaigned in the national capital.

Only a handful of PCC delegates, who are voters in the party presidential poll, were present at Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee office when Tharoor came for the campaign while top office bearers like state president Anil Chaudhary and others were absent. A host of senior leaders were present when Kharge visited the DPCC office last Sunday as part of his campaign.

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Those present included former MP Sandeep Dikshit, who signed one of the nomination papers of Tharoor, and former Delhi Minister Ramakanth Goswami.

Tharoor told reporters that he has "full faith" in what Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi said about remaining neutral in the Congress presidential election. "There is no reason to disbelieve their words. On what basis are people doubting their words? They are neutral and they have kept their word," he said.

At the same time, he complained that several state presidents and others went ahead welcoming Kharge at state headquarters and being present at campaign meetings.

In several PCCs, leaders welcomed and met Kharge. It wasn't done for me. I visited PCCs but PCC chiefs weren't available. Not complaining, but do you not see a difference in treatment?" he said, adding, “but the value of a vote of a big leader and a small worker is the same," he said.

"This sends a message that the leadership is for one candidate...The election is conducted through secret ballot. Voters should decide as per their conscience," he added.

One of his aims is to bring back voters who did not support the Congress in the last two Lok Sabha elections, he said.

Also Read: Believe in collective leadership, will consult Sonia, Rahul if elected Cong prez: Mallikarjun Kharge

Maintaining that there is no enmity between the two candidates, Tharoor said this election is about two Congress members focusing to strengthen the party.

Asked whether he had faced challenges during the campaigning, he said he could not reach out to some delegates as their contact details were "missing" from the list that was provided to him.

There were incomplete contact details in the list of delegates that we received. Some lists had names but no contact numbers, some had names but no proper addresses. Hence, it was difficult to reach out to them. Later a separate list was given," he said.

However, he refused to "blame anyone" for the "incomplete" lists, as there were "flaws" in the system due to the party not having an election in the past 22 years.