Shashi
Tharoor, one of two candidates in the running for the Congress president post, reminded
his party’s leaders that office bearers of the party are not allowed to campaign
for a particular candidate. Tharoor’s reminder comes after Ashok Gehlot, the
Rajasthan chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chairperson,
threw his weight behind Kharge.

Gehlot put
out a video message on Twitter in Hindi on Friday captioned: “I hope all
delegates ensure Mallikarjun Kharge’s success with a wide majority. After he is
successful, he will show us the way for Congress to become a strong opposition.
This is what I think, my best wishes are with Mr Kharge who I hope wins with a
big margin.”  

Tharoor,
66, the Thiruvananthapuram MP, said there are clear instructions that no party
office bearer, Chief Minister, or Pradesh Congress Committee chief should
support or campaign for any candidate. Tharoor spoke from a Bhopal Congress
party office, NDTV reported.

Shashi
Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are the two people in the running for the
Congress president post. This will be the first time a person from outside the Nehru-Gandhi
family since 1996 when Sitaram Kesari was the president of the grand old party.

Tharoor has
made complaints about the absence of a level-playing field in the Congress
president polls earlier as well. “There are certainly aspects that imply an
uneven playing field,” Tharoor, who had once run for elections for the post of United
Nations Secretary-General said. Tharoor had lost the UN post to Ban-ki-Moon in
2006.

Shashi
Tharoor has had a difficult time campaigning for the Congress president polls.
He said that state party chiefs have been unavailable during his campaign for
the internal polls in various states. “I have seen in many places, the PCC
(Pradesh Congress Chief), CLP (Congress Legislature Party) leaders and big
leaders welcome Mallikarjun Kharge, sit with him, invite people and tell them
to be present. All this happened for one candidate but never for me,” Tharoor
said.

Meanwhile,
Manish Tiwari, who too had ambitions to contest the polls, has also thrown his
weight behind Kharge. Tiwari said earlier that Congress needs a safe pair of
hands and a composed personality in the form of Mallikarjun Kharge who can
provide stability to the party as the president.

Congress
presidential elections will be held on October 17. Results are expected on
October 19.