414 state Cong members vote in AICC prez poll

Bhubaneswar: A total of 414 out of 427 eligible voters of the Congress in the state exercised their franchise here on Monday to elect the AICC president.
Barabati-Cuttack MLA Mohammed Moquim, who is on bail after being convicted by a vigilance court in a loan scam case earlier this month, was among those who abstained from voting. Moquim, who had earlier hogged the headlines by voting for NDA candidate Droupadi Murmu in the presidential election going against party whip, did not respond to calls.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Sarat Pattanayak said voting was peaceful in the true democratic spirit as Congress men and women turned out enthusiastically to elect the party chief. “This will go a long way in establishing intra-party democracy and will remain an example for other parties,” he said. Special arrangements were made at the state Congress headquarters here for voting from 10 am to 4 pm to choose between Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor as the next AICC chief.