NEW DELHI: The Congress party on Monday asked party office-bearers not to campaign for candidates contesting election for the post of party president. This has been done to show that the party has been neutral and there is no official candidate for the post.
The party issued a set of guidelines for the election in which it said that those who wish to support any candidate will have to first resign from their organisational post. The guidelines issued by the Congress central election authority said Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are contesting the Congress president’s election in their personal capacity and “the delegates are free to elect any one of them, as per their choice, through ballot paper”.
It said the AICC general secretaries/in-charges, secretaries, joint secretaries, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) presidents, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leaders, heads of frontal organisations, chiefs of departments, cells and all official spokespersons “shall not campaign for or against contesting candidates”.
“If they wish to support any candidate, they must first resign from their organisational post,” it said. The polling for the Congress presidential election will be held on October 17. The counting of votes will be taken up on October 19 and the results will be declared the same day.
More than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will vote in the poll. The Congress asked all PCC presidents to extend courtesy to the candidates during their visits to the respective states. The PCC presidents will provide and arrange a meeting hall, chairs and other public announcement equipment for the candidate who wishes to hold the meeting of PCC delegates, it said.