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Congress allays concerns of Shashi Tharoor, Tewari, 3 others on ‘fair’ party polls
The Congress’s internal poll panel head, Madhusudan Mistry, said on Saturday that delegates for the upcoming party chief’s election will get QR-coded identify cards and their list will be available in his office for any candidate to see.
The Congress’s internal poll panel head, Madhusudan Mistry, said on Saturday that delegates for the upcoming party chief’s election will get QR-coded identify cards and their list will be available in his office for any candidate to see. Mistry’s announcement comes amid mounting pressure by senior party leaders to make the list public.
Replying to a letter of five Congress MPs, including Shashi Tharoor who expressed concerns about “transparency and fairness” in the upcoming party poll, Mistry on Saturday said: “I note your concern and appreciate your intention of strengthening the party.”
Mistry said that “for the first time, we are also issuing QR code-based identity cards to all the delegates across the 28 states and 9 union territories”.
“Those who want to file a nomination should check if they have a delegate identity card available with them. Only people will valid identity cards will be allowed to sign on the nomination papers,” he said.
Any Congress member willing to contest for the party president’s post will require the support of at least 10 delegates.
Mistry added that if any leader wants to file nomination with support from different states, “the list of all 9000+ delegates will be available in my office at AICC, Delhi, from September 20 (11 AM to 6 PM), before they file their nomination on September 24. They can come and choose their 10 supporters (delegates) from the list and obtain their signature (delegates) for nomination.”
He also reiterated “the first option” for prospective candidates and said they can look for the names of the 10 supporters in their state at the Pradesh Congress office. “The nomination signed by 10 delegates will be sufficient for validity of the nomination.”
Five Congress MPs earlier wrote to Mistry, demanding that the list of PCC delegates that make up the electoral college be provided to all electors and potential candidates.
In a joint letter to Mistry dated September 6, the Congress’s Lok Sabha members Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque said this list must be made available in order to verify who is entitled to nominate a candidate and who is entitled to vote.
“In case the CEA (Central Election Authority) has any concerns with respect to releasing the electoral rolls publicly, it must put in place a mechanism to securely share this information with all electors and potential candidates,” the letter said.
Electors and candidates cannot be expected to go to all 28 Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) and nine union territorial units across the country to verify the electoral rolls, the MPs said in their communication to Mistry.
