Sources said Tharoor has objected to Gehlot’s video appeal in which he has praised Kharge’s qualities and experience and sought votes in his favour. In a letter to AICC election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry, Tharoor is said to have questioned how Gehlot, as the leader of the legislature party in Rajasthan, could be biased in internal elections. Tharoor is understood to have underlined that Gehlot’s appeal was in violation of the guidelines issued by Mistry. In response, Mistry said, ‘We are investigating the incident to see what can be done.
On 3 October, Mistry issued a detailed ‘dos and don’ts’, barring organizational position holders from campaigning for any candidate.
While Tharoor has been complaining that equal opportunity was being given due to open appeals by some leaders, Gehlot’s video is important to target, as the CM has a commanding hold over the representatives of his state who form the electorate of the AICC elections. We do. He is one of Kharge’s proponents in the nomination paper. Earlier, Gehlot had called Tharoor an “elite” candidate while defending Kharge.
Interestingly, on his campaign tour of MP on Friday, he was received by state Congress chief Kamal Nath and legislature party leader Govind Singh. He sarcastically called it a “first”, even thanking him for welcoming him.