New Delhi: Elections to elect the first non-Gandhi Congress president in more than 20 years came with its share of drama on counting day on Wednesday, with the Shashi Tharoor camp alleging multiple malpractices in Uttar Pradesh’s polling.
The Tharoor camp, pitted against the “official” candidate Mallikarjun Kharge, has written to Congress’ Election Authority (CEA) president Madhusudan Mistry asking him to cancel the votes cast in Uttar Pradesh.
Tharoor’s chief election agent Salman Soz gave four reasons behind his demand.
First, “unofficial seals” were used to secure ballot boxes in the state. The Tharoor camp said that on Monday, the day of polling, their agents had expressed concern with the State Returning Officer (PRO) and the Assistant State Returning Officer (APRO) over the lack of a “proper sealing mechanism” for the ballot boxes. At the time, he was told that the seal would be enforced later.
The second reason, he pointed out, was the presence of “unauthorized people” in polling stations. The letter alleged that at least three people, who were “influential local leaders”, were present in the polling stations and “acted as bench officers”. One of them was Omvir Yadav, who proposed the nomination of Mallikarjun Kharge.
Third, there was voting malpractice. The Tharoor camp said the votes of the representatives who were not present in Lucknow were cast in a mysterious manner. In addition, many delegates apparently found out that their polling had already taken place before reaching the booth.
Finally, the Tharoor camp stated that the voting summary letter, which was to be compulsorily signed by the agents of both the candidates at the end of the process, was not presented to Tharoor’s representatives.
“We did not contest this election to accept business as usual. We are ready to fight for the integrity of this election,” Soz wrote in the letter.
Presence of AICC in-charge of UP at polling booth
Soz also alleged that All India Congress Committee secretaries in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Pradeep Narwal, Tauqir Alam and Dheeraj Gurjar, were present at various polling stations in Lucknow in defiance of CEA’s rule, which had general secretary and secretary in-charge. The particular states could not cast their vote in their designated state.
The rules state that they have to vote either in their home state or at the AICC headquarters in Delhi.
“Other senior leaders (AICC and Pradesh Congress Committee) were seen instructing voters to cast their votes in a certain manner in and around the polling stations. AICC secretaries must violate the spirit of your instructions on October 15, it shows us the way some of our allies work,” Soz wrote.