THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: When Shashi Tharoor, MP, made great strides in his campaign in Nagpur and Hyderabad towards the Congress presidential election, the central election authority has come out with a ploy to plug the votes going in his favour. Even before Madhusudan Mistry, who is in charge of conducting the election, came out with a directive that both Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge should be given equal preference when it comes to their campaigning, party heavyweights like state Congress president K Sudhakaran have openly rallied behind the latter.
Tharoor is not a novice when it comes to how to run his campaign in style with aplomb. His team comprising more than a dozen volunteers and a professional squad to back up his campaigning has definitely left the national Congress leadership a worried lot after witnessing the hullabaloo over his campaign.
While Tharoor’s USP being quoted by him is that of inner-party democracy, youth leaders across the country, including from his home state have latched on to it. The central election authority came out with a guideline that the candidates should not hold dual posts. A shrewd and astute politician, Tharoor had already anticipated such a move and stepped down from the post of the head of the All India Professional Congress last month itself.
“Let me make clear that I agree with Mallikarjun Kharge ji that all of us in Indian National Congress wish to take on the BJP rather than each other. There is no ideological difference between us. The choice for our voting colleagues in October 17 election is only on how to do it most effectively”, wrote Tharoor on his social media account.
After Hyderabad, Tharoor’s next leg of campaign is his home state where he is expected to kick off his campaigning on Tuesday. Sudhakaran has rallied behind Kharge claiming that Kharge’s experience at the organisation level and popularity will only strengthen the party. Taking potshots at Tharoor, Sudhakaran claimed that Kharge is the most ideal candidate.
Sudhakaran exuded confidence that Kharge who has already proved his mettle at the organisation level and also in governance will only instill more power and energy for the Congress party in future. When there has been a social media campaign in favour of Tharoor by the general public especially from the youths (who are not voters in the Congress presidential election), Sudhakaran claimed that Kharge is adept at holding debates with all generations, including the youths.