Tharoor's stock rises with 12% votes in Congress presidential polls
Darpan News Desk IANS, 19 Oct, 2022 06:01 PM
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 19 (IANS) Not even his most diehard supporter expected his victory in the Congress presidential poll, but Thiruvanthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor was expected to mount a credible fight.
And that is precisely what happened when he secured 1,072 votes of the total over 9,000, or, a healthy 12 per cent.
Incidentally, the last time there was similar election when Jitendra Prasada contested against Sonia Gandhi, he failed to even trouble those who counted the votes and prior to that even Maratha strongman Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot contested against the AICC official candidate Sitaram Kesri, but did not make up a mark. Compared to this, Tharoor can be proud that with just 13 years in the Congress, he has made a huge impression and got four figure votes.
Meanwhile, according to sources in the know of things, Tharoor, who got 16 members from Kerala to put their signature in his nomination form, has managed to secure 130 votes out of the 297 votes from his home state, which is a very tall figure given the fact practically all the bigwigs from Kerala stood rock stock and barrel for Malikarjuna Kharge, who beat Tharoor by a mile.
State Congress president K. Sudhakaran, who dilly dallied on taking a position in the polls, on Wednesday said the Congress has emerged stronger and Tharoor will be given a key post in the party for sure.
Shiromani Akali Dal President Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday hailed the victory of his party in the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) elections as "a forceful referendum of the Khalsa Panth in favour of the panthic identity and religious commitment of the party".
Ranjit Singh, a former follower of Ram Rahim, was shot dead by four assailants on July 10, 2002, in Kurukshetra after he allegedly "raised his voice" against the self-styled godman, who is currently lodged at the high-security Sunaria jail in Rohtak, 250 kms from state capital Chandigarh.
Bharatiya Janata Party chief J P Nadda on Tuesday asked the Congress national leadership to clarify their stand on whether they support the remarks on Kashmir and Pakistan made by party leaders in Punjab. Nadda said that the silence of the Congress leadership will be seen as being implicit to such objectionable remarks.
The farmers union leaders had earlier pointed out that Punjab had failed to hike sugarcane SAP in proportion to Haryana over this period, causing fiscal losses to them.
The Punjab Congress leaders who have distanced themselves from the so-called festering revolt in the party are: Kuldeep Vaid, Dalvir Singh Goldie, Santokh Singh, Angad Singh, Raja Warring and Gurkirat Singh Kotli, all MLAs, and Bhalaipur Ajit Singh Mofar, a former MLA.
Gurbachan Singh (55) was a relieved man after he welcomed his three sons at Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport here. They were among the 78 Afghan- Indians who were evacuated from Kabul to Tajikistan on Monday and to Delhi on Tuesday afternoon.
