In further churn within Congress, five leaders express concerns on 'transparency' of party chief polls

"Every election needs a well-defined and clear electoral college"

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ITDC NEWS R In a sign that discontent is rising within the Congress party over the upcoming presidential election, five Congress MPs have written to AICC central election authority chief Madhusudan Mistry expressing concern about the "transparency and fairness" of the election. They sought that the list of PCC delegates that make up the electoral college be provided to all electors and potential candidates.

In a joint letter to Mistry dated September 6, Congress's Lok Sabha members Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tewari, Karti Chidambaram, Pradyut Bordoloi and Abdul Khaleque said this list must be made available in order to verify who is entitled to nominate a candidate and who is entitled to vote. "In case the CEA [Central Election Authority] has any concerns with respect to releasing the electoral rolls publicly, it must put in place a mechanism to securely share this information with all electors and potential candidates," the letter said.

Electors and candidates cannot be expected to go to all 28 Pradesh Congress Committees (PCCs) and nine union territorial units across the country to verify the electoral rolls, the MPs said in their communication to Mistry. They said that as Congress MPs, they are concerned about the transparency and fairness of the election process for the president of the party. "It is unfortunate that an erroneous interpretation is being given to our demand of releasing electoral rolls. We are not suggesting that any internal document of the party should be released in a manner that may give an opportunity to those who wish us ill to misuse the information contained therein," the MPs said.

Earlier, Congress MP and G-23 leader Tewari had raised objections to the party not making public the names of electors, and said it must be published on the AICC website to ensure transparency. He also asked why anyone seeking to contest the Congress president's election should go to the PCC office to get the electoral roll as this does not even happen in a club election.

Another Congress leader and MP Karti Chidambaram supported his view saying every election requires a well-defined electoral college. He also said "reformists are not rebels". "Every election needs a well-defined and clear electoral college. The process of forming the electoral college must also be clear, well defined and transparent. An ad hoc electoral college is no electoral college," he said on Twitter.