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Shashi Tharoor's 4 complaints: 'Did not contest to accept business as usual'
Shashi Tharoor said voting in Uttar Pradesh for the presidential poll was rigged but added that he won't blame his rival Mallikarjun Kharge because Tharoor presumes that Kharge did not know what actually happened.
Shashi Tharoor and his team brought allegations of severe irregularities in the Congress presidential election as the counting is going on to pick the non-Gandhi president of the party to lead in the 2024 Lok Sabha election. In a letter written by polling agent Salman Soz to Madhusudan Mistry, Shashi Tharoor submitted four complaints against the polling process: use of unofficial seals for ballot boxes, presence of unofficial persons in the polling booths, malpractices indulged during the voting and the absence of polling sheet. The voting took place on November 17.
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"We did not contest this election to accept business as usual. We are ready to fight for the integrity of this election. Winning or losing matters little given that both contestants are part of the same family," the letter said. "However, it matters greatly to our campaign, our volunteers and our supporters that we ensure that the Indian National Congress emerges stronger after this election," Salman Soz wrote on behalf of Tharoor.
"We kept quiet in the party's interest when we saw unjust and unfair treatment that prevented us from operating on a level playing field," he added.
Demanding all Uttar Pradesh votes to be cancelled, the Shashi Tharoor camp claimed that rules were violated in Uttar Pradesh. At the end of the polling, the ballot boxes were supposed to be sealed by the polling officer in presence of the polling agents of the candidates, but it did not happen in Uttar Pradesh. The agents were told that the seal would be applied later.
The Tharoor camp alleged that unofficial plastic seals were received in Uttar Pradesh. "We find it hard to believe that your office, which has tried under very difficult circumstances to organise the election, would somehow send the wrong white seals to only one state," the letter said.
Suspecting voter fraud, Shashi Tharoor camp said there were delegates who were not present in Lucknow on Monday but their votes were cast. "We have not heard of such complaints from any other state," Soz wrote.
Senior office bearers did not exercise their voting rights and instead were in states they are in charge of, the Tharoor camp alleged. "We have the sad duty to inform you that Shri Pradeep Narwal, Shri Tauqeer Alam and Shri Dheeraj Gurjar were present in the different polling booths in Lucknow and they were not there for any other reason by to influence voters," Soz wrote.
In the complaints, however, Tharoor brought no charge against Mallikarjun Kharge and, in fact, mentioned that they have no evidence to claim that Kharge was aware of what his supporters were doing. "We are certain that if he were aware, he would never allow what happened in Uttar Pradesh. He would not allow the tainting of an election that is so important for the party," the letter said.
Shashi Tharoor said it was a strictly internal letter written to Mistry. “It was unfortunate that a strictly internal letter to the CEA was leaked to the media. I hope this clarification by @SalmanSoz ends an unnecessary controversy. This election was meant to strengthen @INCIndia, not to divide it. Let's move on," Tharoor tweeted.
On the complaints, Salman Soz said discussions were held with the the election autnoriry and a fair inquiry has been promised. "We have agreed for the counting to continue and our team looks forward to the results," Salman Soz tweeted.
