Sanganakallu (Karnataka): Congress MP Jairam Ramesh informed on Monday that the meeting room container in the Bharat Jodo Yatra had been converted into a polling booth for the party members to elect their new president.
This polling booth is located at the campsite of the Bharat Jodo Yatra where the Rahul Gandhi-led Congress party's 3500 kilometres yatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir is observing a "rest day" on the 40th day of the march in Sanganakallu since its commencement on September 7.
"This is the polling booth at the #BharatJodoYatra campsite in Sanganakallu that will open at 10 am. It is the meeting room container converted into a polling booth for the Congress Presidential elections," Jairam Ramesh said in the tweet.
The Congress party also took to Twitter to inform about the party's presidential elections today as Rahul Gandhi along with 40 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who are part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra are scheduled to cast their vote for the party presidential election at the campsite as the special booth is established for them to take part in the polls.
"The elections for Congress Party President will be held on the 17th of October between 10 am and 4 pm at the campsite in Sanganakallu," Congress tweeted.
The Central Election Authority, headed by senior party leader Madhusudan Mistry, will oversee the voting and also have laid the guidelines for the 'voters' to make their choice.
Via an official notice, Mistry guided the voters to 'tick mark' before the name of the candidate they wish to see as the party's national president after Sonia Gandhi.
Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress president.
Earlier, former Jharkhand Minister KN Tripathi's nomination for the Congress presidential election was rejected due to signature issues.
A total of 20 forms were submitted during the nomination process and four of them were rejected due to signature issues.
Of which 14 nominations were received by Mallikarjun Kharge, five by Shashi Tharoor and one by Jharkhand Congress leader KN Tripathi.
Meanwhile, Congress veteran, Kharge received support from nearly 30 Congress leaders for the party's presidential polls. These names include Deepender Hooda, Salman Khurshid, Ashok Gehlot, Digvijaya Singh, Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan, and others.
Digvijaya Singh earlier pulled out from the race and extended his support to Kharge, who he said is a senior and respected leader of the party, and against whom he "cannot think of contesting".
Singh is the second Congress leader to pull out of the race after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced he would not contest the elections following the political turmoil in his state.
With the Gandhis not running for the top post this time around, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years.
After the voting concludes today, the results are slated to be declared on October 19.