Thiruvananthapuram: As campaigning for the Congress presidential election gets underway, Shashi Tharoor said he never expected big leaders to support him, and he does not even expect it now, but he needs everyone’s backing.
He made the statement after Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president K Sudhakaran publicly endorsed veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge for the party’s chief post. Tharoor has been in Kerala campaigning for the election.
A Thiruvananthapuram MP, Tharoor assured reporters here that if he backs off from the election, he would not betraying those who have supported him so far.
It was not my expectation that the big leaders of the party would support me. In fact, it was party workers that persuaded me to contest at Nagpur, Wardha, and Hyderabad.
Assuring them that he wouldn’t back down, he said: “My confidence in them gives me the strength to carry on.”
In addition, he said that although “most of his supporters are young party workers and leaders,” he needed support from everyone.
In response to the question of whether Sudhakaran’s public support for Kharge discouraged others from supporting him, Tharoor responded, “Maybe, but I’m not saying that. It’s not important to me to decipher what people think. One thing I will say is, the ballot is secret, whether one says it secretly or publicly.
Congress will hold its presidential election on October 17. Election results will be announced on October 19 after the votes have been counted.
There will be more than 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates voting.