Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor, MP, said no contestant could aspire for an easy victory in the organisational elections.
Speaking to journalists after casting his vote at the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) headquarters at Indira Bhavan, Mr. Tharoor said, “It is a friendly contest, but a tough one”.
Mr. Tharoor said he had spoken to his opponent Mallikarjun Kharge and sought the latter’s blessings before casting his vote.
The party needed change instead of continuity. Its vote share in successive Lok Sabha elections had dwindled. Congress lost 36 of the 45 Assembly seats it contested recently. “If not now, when?,” Mr. Tharoor asked.
Mr. Tharoor said his election manifesto insisted on decentralisation of organisational power.
The top-down managerial philosophy and practice have to change. Congress should give more agency to rank-and-file workers.
“For instance, if a Pradesh Congress Committee wanted to appoint a new District Congress Committee president, it has to seek the All India Congress Committee (AICC) president’s clearance. Such rigid mechanisms have to give way to radical organisational changes with an eye on transforming Congress into an election-winning machine. We can’t hand over power to the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) on a platter again”, Mr. Tharoor said.
He demanded Congress accord workers the latitude to show initiative and exercise their discernment.
Such a change would expedite the decision-making process and render Congress supple enough to respond flexibly to social, political and livelihood issues from the grassroots level and upwards.
The decentralisation of organisational power was the cornerstone of inner-party democracy.
“Block presidents are the backbone of the Congress party. The party could ill afford to ignore them”, Mr. Tharoor said.
As if to stress the point, Mr. Tharoor had appointed three Congress block panchayat presidents as his polling agents.
In contrast, Mr. Kharge’s camp had nominated two MPs and a former minister as its agents.
Mr. Tharoor said he had campaigned in 10 States and contacted most members of the 9.308-strong electoral college.
“The feedback is positive. No candidate needs to expect a walkover. Both teams will collect a sizeable number of votes. It will be a celebration of inner-party democracy.”, he said.
Mr. Tharoor declined to criticise senior KPCC leaders who had openly campaigned for Mr. Kharge. He said some gave the impression that Mr. Kharge had the Gandhi family’s favour.
“AICC president Sonia Gandhi repeatedly clarified that the AICC has no official candidate. I take her word for it. Any attempt to openly take sides in the contest is at variance with the AICC’s official line.”, he said.
Leader of the Opposition, V.D. Satheesan, echoed the same line when confronted by journalists at the Indira Bhavan.
“I adhere to party discipline and will not cross the line by openly favouring one candidate over the other lest it prejudices other voters.”, he said.
However, KPCC working president Kodikunnil Suresh, MP, said he wished Mr. Tharoor had withdrawn from the contest.
“Several other senior leaders had made way for veteran Mr. Kharge’s elevation as AICC president by declining to enter the fray. Mr. Tharoor could have set a similar example.”, he said.
Congress veteran A.K. Antony, who travelled to the AICC office in New Delhi to officially second Mr. Kharge’s candidature, said the contest was not about individual leaders but inner-party democracy.
Mr. Antony said the Bharathiya Janata Party (BJP) or Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] could not claim a comparable legacy.
“The BJP nominates its presidents via an opaque process.”, he said.
Former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala struck a similar line.
Congress polling got off to a strong start at Indira Bhavan at 10 a.m. KPCC members queued up to cast their votes.
The Kerala Pradesh Returning Officer, G. Parameswara and Assistant Returning Officer, V.K. Arivazhagan, are monitoring the poll process. They said the two sealed ballot boxes would be despatched to New Delhi soon after the polling concludes at 4 p.m.
