Shashi Tharoor, one of the two contenders for the Congress president post, alleged on Thursday that he has been facing differential treatment from the party leaders as against his opponent Mallikarjun Kharge. The Thiruvananthapuram MP lamented that some leaders openly extending support to Kharge and calling meetings in his favour have disturbed the level-playing field.
Addressing a press conference in Delhi, Tharoor said he could not meet some delegates as their contact details were "missing" from the list that was provided to him.
"There were incomplete contact details in the list of delegates that we received. Some lists had names but no contact numbers, some had names but no proper address. Hence, it was difficult to reach out to them," he said.
Election to the top Congress post will be held on October 17 and the results will be announced on October 19. Though the party high command has maintained that there is no “official candidate” in the fray, Kharge is being seen as a favourite for the post because of his perceived proximity to the Gandhi family.
Tharoor rued that several Pradesh Congress Committee chiefs and senior leaders were not available for a meeting with him during his visits to their respective states, but they warmed up to Kharge when he visited them seeking support.
“I am not complaining, but do you not see a difference in treatment?,” he asked.
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"We are contesting elections. There is no spirit of enmity in our party. Kharge Sahab is my senior leader and I have worked closely with him. The election is about two colleagues seeing how to work to strengthen the party,” Tharoor further said.
The MP said he is contesting the party president post since he wants to bring a change in the organisation. "Do you want the party to go with change or are you satisfied with everything? If you think everything is fine, do not vote for me as I want such a change in the party that would bring back voters who did not remain with us in 2014 and 2019," he said.