Inclination towards Kharge’s candidature was clearly visible during voting for AICC president at Rajiv Bhawan

His opponent Kerala’s MP Shashi Tharoor could not even find agent for him in Chhattisgarh.

Raipur

An inclination towards the candidature of veteran Congress leader from Mallikarjun Kharge was visible as 307 Congress delegated voted to elect the new president of All India Congress Committee (AICC) at Chhattisgarh Congress’s party headquarter in the state capital Raipur on Monday.

Like other states, voting for the election of AICC president began at Congress state office ‘Rajiv Bhawan’ in Raipur at 10 am on Monday. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president MohanMarkam among other senior leaders who cast their vote during the first hour of the voting. Baghel cast his vote at 11.10 am even though the voting will be held till 4 pm. 

A booth was set up at the party’s state headquarters for 307 delegates of Chhattisgarh. The ballot box will be taken to Delhi immediately after the voting. 

Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka and MP Shashi Tharoor from Kerala are in fray for the post of Congress national president.  Meanwhile, cabinet ministers Ravindra Choubey, Kawasi Lakhma, Guru Rudra Kumar, Dr Shiv Kumar Dahriya, MLA Satyanarayan Sharma, Ambika Singhdeo, Mamta Chandrakar , other ministers and MLAs also reached for voting after the chief minister exercise his franchise.

After the voting, the Chief Minister and his ministers have left for the cabinet meeting. Minister Ravindra Choubey said, this vote is a testament to the strength of internal democracy in the Congress party.

Here the atmosphere was clearly visible in favour of Mallikarjun Kharge. Congress State Vice President Arun Singhania, General Secretaries Arjun Tiwari, Arun Sisodia and Sumitra Ghritalhare have been made polling agents on behalf of Kharge. 

On the other hand, Shashi Tharoor could not find any polling agent here which clearly indicates a one-side voting in favour of Kharge.

Congress communication department head Sushil Anand Shukla said that transparency was ensured in the voting process.

PCC chief Markam had reached Rajiv Bhawan before the start of the voting. While talking to the press, he said, after 24 years, voting was held. There was tremendous enthusiasm among the delegates of the state Congress. 

Returning Officer Umar Hussain Dalwai explained the process of voting to the agents. T

The last time voting was held for the post of President in Congress was in the year 1998. Then there was Jitendra Prasad vs Sonia Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi got about 7,448 votes, but Jitendra Prasad was reduced to 94 votes. The Gandhi family never faced any challenge when Sonia Gandhi became the president.