‘Elector details’ plague Congress president poll
NEW DELHI: As the crisis-ridden Congress is bracing for presidential elections, it is facing increasing questions about the transparency of the election process. The electoral roll for the AICC President election, which is available at AICC headquarters, doesn’t show the address, photos or details of the 9000-odd delegates, except for their names. The party has made the list of over 9000 delegates available for those seeking to file nomination for the AICC President post from September 20 at its Delhi office. The list of state delegates is available at the corresponding PCC office.
Requesting anonymity, a senior leader from Gujarat said that in his state, only names of delegates were available in the electoral rolls. “How will the candidate contact delegates without address or phone number, photo or details of the delegate? In our list, only the names of the delegates are given. It’s a farce,” said the leader. So far, only Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor has collected nomination papers, and he is expected to file the nomination by September 30.
Another leader from Tamil Nadu said that except names of the delegates, nothing was available on the electoral roll in the state. Many leaders from Assam, Kerala and other states also voiced the same concern. “Without the photo of the delegate, how will even one identify that he/she is the real voter? Even if they appoint polling agents, it will be difficult to identify the real voter,” said a leader. One MP from Maharashtra says that though the party claims that the election is being conducted in a fair manner, the dominance of the High Command is visible in each process. “Right from choosing the PCC delegate to state president to AICC member, it’s decided from the top,” he says.
Early this month, Chairman of the Congress Central Election Authority (CEA) Madhusudan Mistry assured the whole process of the election of the party president is open as the party has nothing to hide. As assured by Mistry, a QR code-based identity card was issued to all delegates across 29 states and nine Union territories.
The move came after five MPs including Shashi Tharoor and Karti Chidambaram wrote Mistry, seeking greater transparency in elections and the rolls are made public to ensure free and fair elections
Senior leader Manish Tewari has expressed concern that fair and free elections are not possible without a publicly available electoral roll.
“How can someone consider running if he/ she does not know who the electors are? If someone has to file his/her nomination and gets it proposed by 10 Congress persons as is a requirement, the CEA can reject it saying they are not valid electors,” Tewari tweeted.
According to the Congress Constitution, any 10 delegates can propose the name of any other delegate for the post of Congress president. The returning officer for the election will send the list of nominated delegates to each state unit of the party, or PCC. The candidates will be given seven days to
withdraw the nominations, if they wish.
In the case of more than one candidate, the elections are held at the PCC headquarters of each state. The candidate with the highest number of votes will be declared the president of Congress.
The filing of nominations for the post of the Congress President, which began on September 24 will conclude on September 30. The election will be held on October 17 and the result will be declared on October 19. The Congress is holding the election for the party president after more than two decades. If a non-Gandhi is elected, it will be after around 25 years.
Himachal Cong leader switches side, joins BJP
The Congress, which is facing an existential crisis in Himachal Pradesh, got another jolt on Wednesday when its working executive state president Harsh Mahajan joined the BJP. Mahajan said that he switched to the saffron party, which is led by a visionary leader like PM Narendra Modi, who had made India proud on an international stage and who is serving the nation better than his predecessors.