Congress presidential poll: Lukewarm response to Shashi Tharoor’s campaign in Mumbai
The former diplomat, nevertheless, reminded delegates that the Congress chief will be elected via a secret ballot and that no one will be privy to which candidate each delegate votes for.
2 min read
Congress state unit chief Nana Patole, who was also absent from Tharoor's programme, was apparently busy with prior commitments. (File)Senior Maharashtra Congress leaders on Sunday chose to stay away from the delegate outreach programme of Lok Sabha MP and party presidential poll candidate Shashi Tharoor at the Congress state headquarters in Mumbai. This was in stark contrast to Friday when state leaders queued up to meet his fellow candidate Mallikarjun Kharge at Tilak Bhavan.
Congress state unit chief Nana Patole, who was also absent from Tharoor’s programme, was apparently busy with prior commitments. “I had a word with Patole ji and he informed me about his prior commitment. I am not complaining at all,” said Tharoor when asked about the lukewarm reception he received from the Maharashtra unit.
Members of the All India Professional Congress greeted Tharoor at Tilak Bhavan. Former Lok Sabha MP Priya Dutt and former Rajya Sabha MP Bhalchandra Mungekar were also present. “It is true that delegates are not coming out in the open to support me. But my appeal to delegates is that this is going to be a secret ballot where no one is going to know which candidate they voted for. We are happy if somebody comes, we are even happy for those who don’t come. Kharge is a leader and he will have the support of leaders. But PCC chiefs have one vote just like other delegates,” Tharoor said later.
The former diplomat admitted that certain leaders were painting the ongoing electoral battle as one between an “official candidate” (Kharge) and an “unofficial” one (himself). “My interactions with the Gandhi family have convinced me that there is no bias from them towards either me or Kharge, but certain leaders are creating a picture that there is one official and another unofficial candidate. I have experienced that from certain Pradesh Congress Committees,” he said.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP acknowledged that his style of functioning was different from that of Kharge and that he stood for change within the party.
Tharoor visited Chaityabhoomi, the cremation place of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj memorial at Shivaji Park, and the Siddhivinayak temple before dropping by the party’s state and Mumbai headquarters.
You May Like
Photos
