GUWAHATI: Voting ended for the Congress presidential elections in Assam with 97 per cent of the registered delegates casting their ballots at Rajiv Bhawan in Guwahati on Monday.
Most of senior leaders of the party in the state have openly supported Mallikarjun Kharge, but Shashi Tharoor camp is equally hopeful of giving a tough fight in the election.
A senior official of the state PCC said total number of registered votes was finally counted to be 291, after deputy leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi and former Assam PCC president Paban Singh Ghatowar got included in the voters’ list as additional delegates under MP quota and ex-PCC chief quota respectively. “Total 279 delegates from Assam voted in the presidential election here in Guwahati. Two senior leaders of the party, Rekibuddin Ahmed and Akan Bora voted in Meghalaya and Mizoram respectively as they were there as returning officers,” the official added.
Assam PCC president Bhupen Borah told TOI that the presidential election infused a new life in the party organization in the state, where he claimed that the membership of the Congress in the state has touched 33 lakhs in last 12 months. “The elected delegates from block level, who voted in the election today, were elected by booth committee delegates. In a way the booth committees at the grassroots have indirectly participated in this presidential election,” said Borah.
Two additional Pradesh Returning Officers appointed by AICC returned to New Delhi with the ballot boxes on Monday night.
Both Kharge and Tharoor camps said that there are no ideological fights but the presidential election will strengthen the party. However, the election has reflected the followers of the Gandhi family loyals mostly sided with Kharge.
Senior Congressman and Lok Sabha MP Pradyut Bordoloi, the only big name supporting Tharoor, said,”For the sake of democratic ethos and strengthen the party, this election was crucial for the Congress. BJP cannot dare to conduct such a democratic election.”
