Punjab Congress chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring Monday hit out at the rivals parties for terming veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge as a "proxy" candidate of the Gandhi family, saying the "transparent" presidential poll in the grand old party has robbed them of the "dynastic" charge. Even Shashi Tharoor, the other candidate in the presidential race, has not questioned the transparency and impartiality of the poll, Warring added. "Since they have been robbed of the argument of dynastic politics with the democratic and transparent election process in the Congress, they have started saying so and so is the proxy candidate of the Gandhis. Supposing the candidate, that the opposition says is the proxy of the Gandhi family, wins, should not they accept and acknowledge the Gandhi family's influence and the love it commands among the party workers across the country? Today's election will clear all doubts about who rules the hearts of Congress workers across the country,” Warring said “Irrespective of who wins the Congress presidential election, it will be the victory of the party workers at the grassroots level as they will be having a president elected by their representatives and not imposed from the top or from Nagpur,” he said taking a swipe at the BJP. He asked the rival parties to hold organisational elections like the grand old party. Voting in the elections to choose the party's new president was held at the AICC headquarters and polling booths in PCC offices across the country. The results will be declared on October 19. Warring said about 10,000 delegates constitute the electorate in the Congress presidential election. "How can anyone unduly influence 10,000 voters without getting noticed?" he asked while asserting that "every voter cast the vote of their own choice without any compulsion". He said out of 237 delegates from Punjab authorised to vote in this election, 219 (92.4%) exercised their franchise. In Haryana, senior party leader and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the party is setting a splendid example of internal democracy. "The Congress is the only party in the country which elects its president. Other parties need to learn from this." Commenting about the candidates in the election, Hooda said both are capable leaders and whosoever becomes the president will strengthen the party.
