In the run-up to the election of the new Congress president, nominations for which can be filled from September 24 to 30, it has been decided that PCC delegates who form the electoral college for the polls can pass a resolution authorising the incoming party chief to nominate the new PCC chiefs and AICC delegates.
A decision to this effect was taken in a meeting of the Central Election Authority of the party with the Pradesh Returning Officers on Wednesday, called to take stock of the arrangements for the election that will take place on October 17 in the event of more than one nomination being filed.
Announcing this today at a press briefing, CEA Chairman Madhusudan Mistry said the state returning officers for the election will convene meetings of the PCC delegates in which they can pass a resolution that the new party president can nominate the state Congress presidents and AICC delegates.
This resolution, Mistry clarified, will have no bearing on the process to elect the new party president. “The resolution, whoever the incoming president is, will make it convenient for that person,” he said.
Meanwhile, the decision is expected to result in a flurry of resolutions authorising Congress President Sonia Gandhi to nominate the PCC chief and AICC members. Already, a meeting of the newly elected PCC delegates from Kerala held on Thursday in Thiruvananthapuram has passed a resolution unanimously decided to authorise Gandhi to nominate PCC President and elect or nominate AICC members from Kerala.
A senior Congress leader said these resolutions were not expected to result in any appointments being made by Gandhi, who will as soon as the election process is notified, will be in office in a caretaker capacity. Even earlier, she is expected to leave it to be taken care of by the incoming president.
There are over 9,000 PCC delegates, who can vote in the election to choose the new Congress president. The list of the delegates will be available in Mistry's office at the AICC headquarters from September 20 to 24. Those wanting to file nominations can come and choose their ten supporters from the list. A copy of the list will be provided to those who file their nominations.
A decision to keep the list at the AICC for perusal by those wanting to contest the election was taken after demands were made for greater transparency with regard to the list.
Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor had sent a letter to Mistry, which was jointly signed by party leaders Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque, demanding that the voters' list be made public. While the CEA declined the demand for making the list public, it agreed to make it available for perusal at the AICC headquarters in addition to the PCC offices.
Identity cards, bearing QR code, are being issued to all the delegates by September 20. The voters will have to carry the ID cards to the polling centre. Those delegates whose cards do not carry their photograph will have to carry an ID proof.
istry said that the PCC delegates have been chosen by and large by consensus, except for Andamans, where election took place to choose the new PCC delegates.
