Team Tharoor flags poll code 'bias' day ahead of Congress president election

By Rajdeep Sardesai, Mausami Singh: Congress’s Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor sought a clarification from the central election authority, or the CEA, about the voting process in the election to choose a party president. The CEA was explaining the voting process to all involved, including the teams of the contestants, on Saturday when the issue was raised by Tharoor’s team.

The authority, at the meeting, said that voters would have to mark “1” on the candidate of their choice on the ballot papers. However, Tharoor's team said that this would create confusion among the electorate since his opponent Mallikarjun Kharge’s serial number is 1 and the diktat seems to give a sense that the CEA is asking voters to choose Kharge.

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The issue was resolved on the spot, when the CEA took note of the concern and said that voters could 'tick' their choice, sources said.

Generally, as a rule, when there are more than two candidates in an election, voters need to mark their preferences as 1 and 2. But since there are only two candidates in this election, the CEA settled on a tick mark instead of numeric markings, the sources added.

The Congress is holding its first election in 22 years to choose a head of the party. Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are fighting to win the top post, the polls for which will be held tomorrow. The votes will be counted on October 19.

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