AP leaders begin voting in AICC president’s election

Amaravati, Oct 17 : Polling for the election of All India Congress Committee president began on an enthusiastic note at Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh on Monday.

Party spokesman Janga Gautam cast the first vote at the polling station in the Kurnool district Congress office.

State Congress president Sake Sailajanath, working presidents N Thulasi Reddy, Sheik Mastanvali and other leaders also exercised their franchise.

About 350 Pradesh Congress Committee members from the state are eligible to vote in the presidential election.

Former MP Meenakshi Natarajan is acting as the election officer here.

Senior leaders say the election might not entirely be a “one-sided affair,” though it was assumed that the state party would throw its lot behind Mallikarjun Kharge.

Kharge visited the APCC headquarters in Vijayawada and campaigned in support of his candidature for the AICC president’s post.

The other contender Shashi Tharoor, however, did not visit the state.

As the state Congress leadership is busy with the preparations for Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, that will re-enter AP on Tuesday, the PCC polling station for the president’s election has been set up in Kurnool.