Congress Insists It Is Giving A Level Playing Field To Kharge, Tharoor

Congressmen are enjoying the media attention their party polls have generated. It just seems everyone is competing for a brief spot in the sun. That is why a little after spokesperson Pawan Khera tweeted about how he had sought leave as “chairman of media and  publicity department to campaign for the candidate” of his  choice and  found AICC general secretary media Jairam Ramesh had  not granted him leave “citing compulsions of running” the department,  party election authority Madhusudhan Mistry made it clear to all party functionaries that if they wished to campaign for either of the candidates — Shashi Tharoor or Mallikarjun Kharge — they will  have to resign from their organisational post first. It must be mentioned at least three spokespersons — Syed Nasir Hussain, Deepinder Singh Hooda and Gourav Vallabh – were first to quit their posts to assist Kharge. Sending WhatsApp messages to all functionaries, Mistry made it clear “Utmost care will be taken to ensure that there is no mala-fide campaign against any candidate”.  More than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates will vote in the poll to be held on October 17. Kharge has the support of many party leaders including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi and is emerging as the front-runner. Tharoor, meanwhile, is focused on his campaign #ThinkTomorrowThinkTharoor.