Senior leaders of the Congress party in Tamil Nadu turned up in large numbers to cast their vote for elections to the post of AICC president, with majority support being expressed for Mallikarjun Kharge. Only a small section of party members seemed to have favoured Shashi Tharoor.
Right from the morning, Congress leaders rubbed shoulders with one another to cast their votes in the party’s presidential poll. Senior leaders, including former presidents S Thirunavukkarasar, KV Thangabalu, and the present team of office-bearers led by TNCC chief KS Alagiri, appear to have backed Kharge while Karti Chidambaram, son of former Union Finance minister P. Chidambaram, was an articulate supporter of Tharoor.
Kharge appeared to have the backing of the establishment, perceived to be backers of the Gandhi family as represented by Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
Although Tharoor is seen as a good personality, he does not enjoy the confidence of partymen. His slogan of ‘vote for change’ has not cut much ice with most of the voters in the Congress party in the state.
Thirunavukkarasar summed up the election in Tamil Nadu by stating that Kharge had majority support in the party in the state, and the voting trends indicated the same.
A significant impact of the election was the element of surprise and astonishment in other parties like the DMK and AIADMK, where the election was more a case of selection, through consensus, rather than through polling. Party personnel of other mainstream parties were curious onlookers, wondering whether such a process of election would take place in their parties too.