As votes were being tabulated two days after the Congress held a historic election—the first in more than 20 years and one in which no Gandhi was running—Shashi Tharoor claimed “very severe violations.”
Veteran politician and “Gandhi-approved” candidate Mallikarjun Kharge is Shashi Tharoor’s opponent in the race.
Soon after the votes started to be counted, Mr. Tharoor’s team urged that the votes cast in the state of Uttar Pradesh be thrown out because of claimed “disturbing facts” in the election process. Team Tharoor stated, “We did not enter this election to accept business as usual.”
Salman Soz, representing Mr Tharoor’s team, later said they had been “assured of a fair inquiry” had had agreed that counting should continue.
In a letter to Mr Mistry this morning, team Tharoor said: “Our campaign wants to bring to your attention extremely serious irregularities in the conduct of the election in the state of Uttar Pradesh. As you will see, the facts are damning and the election process in UP is devoid of credibility and integrity.”
What happened in Uttar Pradesh “is at a completely different level”, said the letter.
“We would like to underline that we have no evidence that Mallikarjun Kharge ji was aware of how his supporters were engaging in electoral malpractice in Uttar Pradesh. 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 Indian National Congress,” team Tharoor wrote.
It raised issues such as improper voting procedures, the use of unofficial seals on ballot boxes, and the presence of unauthorised individuals in polling places.
“We do not see how this election can be deemed free and fair if the tainted process of Uttar Pradesh is allowed to stand. We therefore demand that all votes from Uttar Pradesh be deemed invalid,” said the letter.
The Congress will have its first non-Gandhi leader before the end of the day.
From all throughout the nation, sealed ballot boxes were delivered to the Congress headquarters in Delhi.
Longtime Gandhi family supporter Mallikarjun Kharge is thought to be the front-runner in the contest. This has given his detractors ammunition to claim that if he wins, the Gandhis will remotely control the party.