"It was challenging for us to conduct an election but we have done it successfully without any incident. It is a very satisfactory feeling for us," said Madhusudan Mistry on the Congress’s presidential election, speaking to The Wire.

On October 17, the elections for the Congress president were held. Madhusudan Mistry, a former general secretary of the party and the current chairman of the party’s Central Election Authority, spoke to The Wire’s Yaqut Ali about the process in an interview.

More than 9,000 delegates cast their votes all over the nation to elect the next party president. The result will be announced on October 19, 2022. This is the first time in more than two decades that the Congress will be headed by a non-Gandhi.

When The Wire asked Mistry about the complaints made by Shashi Tharoor, one of the candidates, that he wasn’t given the list of delegates, he responded, "He wanted the list to be public, but we refused because it wasn't a public election. It was a congress party election. After that, we gave him the list and also gave it to Malikarjun Kharge."

During the interview, Mistry is also asked about how delegates from different states, who may not be present in their respective constituencies, were able to vote in the election. How did leaders who are participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra manage to vote?

Mistry added that the voting system ̇as changed from a numbering list to a simple 'tick' mark because there were only two candidates this time.

Watch the video for full details.

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