Congress's presidential election candidate Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday welcomed the decision of the party's Central Election Authority to have a secret ballot in the polls for the grand old party's top post, and said it would enable all delegates to be able to vote as per their wish.
He also said that this presidential election was important for the party to fight the upcoming Lok Sabha election with courage and confidence.
"The system of election as declared by the (Congress) Central Election Authority (CEA) chairman Madhusudan Mistry is very good. He talked about the secret ballot...Voting will be carried out secretly and nobody gets to know who voted for whom...People can vote as per their wish," Tharoor told reporters during his election campaign here.
He was referring to Mistry's press conference held in Delhi earlier in the day, where he said that the Congress's presidential polls will be held by a secret ballot and no one will get to know who voted for whom in order to ensure a level-playing field for both the candidates.
"It is everyone's right to vote on the basis of what he likes or not. Our party has done a good job to publicly announce the decision about the (voting) system...Whoever wins, it will be the victory of Congress. This is why I am contesting," Tharoor said.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he will raise the voice for those who want a change in the party, and these changes will empower such party workers and not big leaders, who may not like a change and are happy with the present situation.
He also said that he has not distanced himself from whatever issues were raised in the letter of the G-23 (group of 23 Congress leaders) as those have found place in his manifesto.
The G-23 had written a letter to Sonia Gandhi in August 2020 demanding an organisational overhaul and elections at all levels of the party.
On a query about the talks of being Gandhi family's "remote control" is concerned, Tharoor said if he and veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge, against whom he is pitted in the race for the top post in the party, have reached a stage where they were confident of contesting for the post of president, then they know how to work in the party.
"At the same time, the Gandhi family remains a big asset and no president can distance himself from them," he said.
He said he has noticed that senior leaders would not like a change, because they are naturally happy in the present situation and that he was here to raise the voice for those who want a change.
"The change is for empowerment of those party workers who are mostly young and work hard for the party," the parliamentarian from Kerala said.
The party's election is internal, but it will have an impact across the country, Tharoor said.
"I have seen that from the beginning of the election, the public has been paying attention to the party. No other party has carried out such an election for the party workers to decide on the leadership. It is a good example for other parties to select their leadership. We learn from newspapers about BJP selecting its leader, while here we will decide after asking our workers," he said.
On G-23, Tharoor said it is not any organisation but a group of people who were available to sign on the letter in Delhi as most of the leaders could not turn up due to COVID-19 pandemic situation.
"I have not distanced myself from whatever issues were raised by G-23. My manifesto contains those points," he further said.
Replying to a question, Tharoor said as far as talks of 'remote control' were concerned, Rahul Gandhi has said that it was an insult to the two contesting leaders if one thinks that they can be remote controlled in any way.
"I believe that if we have reached a stage where we are confident of contesting for the post of president, then we know how to work in the party. It does not mean that we want to remain distant from the Gandhi family. Gandhi family is a very big asset for our party," he said.
"Like I was telling our delegates, whatever Rahul Gandhi is doing in Bharat Jodo Yatra is a very good thing for the party...Who would want to keep him at a distance?" he asked.
"There is no need for a remote control also because if Rahul Gandhi wanted to run the party (as its president), he would have withdrawn his resignation. His five-year tenure is not yet over. It remains so till November. If he wanted, he could have continued," Tharoor said.
The new president will work on rejuvenating the party and bring many changes in the organisation so as to face the 2024 elections with confidence and strength, he added.
"We are a party of inclusive India. Our ideology is different from that of BJP and others...Congress's ideology will be so clear that nobody would remain doubtful about it. Whatever Rahul Gandhi is doing in Bharat Jodo Yatra should spread to all the states," he said.