The All India Congress Committee directed all its general secretaries, state in-charges, secretaries and joint secretaries to not cast their vote in the party presidential polls from their assigned state, PTI reported on Thursday. They have been requested to vote either from their home state or at the Delhi headquarters.

The election to decide the successor to the longest-serving Congress president Sonia Gandhi will take place on October 17 and the results will be announced two days later. Senior Congress leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge will be contesting the polls, which will be held by a secret ballot.

Central Election Authority chairperson Madhusudan Mistry, in a letter dated October 11, said that the decision to restrict party members from voting in their assigned states was taken to ensure an impartial and transparent election process.

Meanwhile, Tharoor on Thursday claimed that state party chiefs were not available during his campaign for the polls but they had openly supported Kharge and even held meetings in his favour hence disturbing the level-playing field, reported NDTV.

“I have seen in many places, the Pradesh Congress Chiefs, Congress Legislature Party leaders and big leaders welcome Mallikarjun Kharge, sit with him, invite people and tell them to be present,” Tharoor said. “All this happened for one candidate but never for me.”

Last week, Tharoor had launched his manifesto for the presidential polls at party headquarters in Tamil Nadu where no senior party leaders were present, according to him.

On Thursday, Tamil Nadu Congress Committee President KS Alagiri shared pictures of preparations made to welcome Kharge for his campaign on Twitter. Congress member Salman Anees Soz urged Alagiri to abide by guidelines for the polls.

“Pradesh Congress Chief Presidents must take a hands-off approach to the election of our next president,” he said. “I request you and senior leaders to adhere to Mistry ji’s guidelines.”

Soz’s tweet was also shared by Tharoor.

The two candidates have claimed that they would bring the required reforms in the party. Both Tharoor and Kharge have said that they will adopt the guidelines that were decided during the Udaipur Declaration earlier in May.