Sources in Uttar Pradesh’s election campaign said Tharoor was asked by “a top party official” to refrain from campaigning in Lucknow on Monday as it was unfair in light of the death of Samajwadi Vice Chancellor Mulayam Singh Yadav. It is learned that Tharoor had suggested to come here on Tuesday but was told that this could lead to clashes with Kharge’s supporters.
The front-runner veterans were already scheduled to campaign there on Tuesday. Fearless, Tharoor is now scheduled to visit Lucknow on 16 October. One cancellation after another has raised eyebrows in party circles, with some asking whether prominent UP Congress leaders are willing to push Tharoor back.
Interestingly, representatives who make up the electoral college in internal elections had to collect their QR-enabled identity cards to be used for voting on Tuesday, and this would have provided candidates with a good outreach opportunity.
Uttar Pradesh is a major polling station in party elections, with more than 1,200 delegates. A self-styled candidate, diplomat-turned-politician, Tharoor is fond of the fact that Kharge is widely seen as the “establishment” choice of the Congress, given that he was asked to contest last-minute It was when the first choice, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot was dropped after a dispute.
The Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram has already expressed concern that “leaders” are sending messages to representatives to vote for the “official candidate”, but also argued that their design may fall short in the secret ballot. He is confident that his campaign is gaining traction and will perform better than expected.