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here and at over 65 polling booths across the country in an electoral contest which is taking place for the sixth time in the party’s 137-year history.
While party chief Sonia Gandhi and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are expected to vote at the AICC headquarters here, Rahul Gandhi will be voting at the Bharat Jodo Yatra campsite in Karnataka’s Sanganakallu in Ballari along with around 40 other Bharat Yatris who are PCC delegates.
Tharoor will cast his vote at the Kerala Congress headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram, while Kharge will do so at Karnataka Congress office in Bengaluru. Kharge is considered the firm favourite for his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and backing by senior leaders, even as Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change.
During the campaign, even though Tharoor raised issues of uneven playing field, both candidates and the party have maintained that the Gandhis are neutral and that there is no “official candidate”.
Kharge and Tharoor made fervent appeals on the last day of the campaign with the former being in Bengaluru and the latter in Lucknow as part of the campaign to woo delegates. Speaking in Bengaluru, Kharge said he would have no shame in taking the advice and support of the Gandhi family in running the party affairs, in case he becomes its president, as they have struggled and put their strength for its growth.
The veteran leader said he is the “delegates’ candidate” in these polls. Meanwhile, Tharoor took a veiled dig at some senior leaders supporting Kharge, saying some colleagues were “indulging in ‘netagiri’ and telling party workers” that they know whom Sonia Gandhi wants elected.
If anyone has “fear or doubt” in their mind, the party has made it clear that it will be a secret ballot, he said in Lucknow and urged the Congress delegates to listen to their hearts while voting to elect the new party president.
While the Kharge camp shared a campaign video seeking votes for him which included visuals of him walking with Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra with the song ‘Kandhon se milte hain kandhe’ from the movie Lakshya playing in the background, Tharoor issued a fervent video appeal on Twitter calling on electors to show courage to “embrace change”.
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