On October 19, a new leader of the Indian National Congress (INC) will take office. On October 17, people will vote to choose a new president. The INC will elect Mallikarjun Kharge or Dr. Shashi Tharoor as its new leader. The party will have an elected president for the first time in more than 20 years. Jitendra Prasada was beaten by Sonia Gandhi in 2000 to take over as Congress president.
Manish Tewari, the leader of the Congress, has chosen to support Mallikarjun Kharge rather than Shashi Tharoor, a fellow member of the so-called G-23 who wrote to interim party president Sonia Gandhi in 2020 requesting reforms to the way the party operates.
Manish Tewari, a member of the Lok Sabha, expressed his support for Congress presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday, saying that the seasoned politician can give the party stability. Speaking to the news agency ANI, Tewari claimed that Kharge, who has devoted more than 50 years of his life to the grand old party, is the “safe pair of hands” that Congress needs.
The Congress party needs a safe pair of hands in the form of Mallikarjun Kharge, according to Tewari, “if all the facts are taken into account and an objective assessment is done.” Kharge has spent more than 50 years serving the Congress.
“He has an unflappable demeanour. After several years, Kharge has advanced from the party’s lowest positions. Stability is needed in Congress, which I believe Kharge can deliver “Added he.
Tewari was a member of the so-called G-23, a now entirely disbanded group of senior Congressmen that wrote to Sonia Gandhi, the party’s acting president, in 2020 to request reforms to the way the party operates. Even though Tharoor is a member of the G-23, Kharge has received the support of the majority of the dissident Congress members. When Kharge submitted his nomination for the party president election, Tewari was one of the proposers.
AK Antony, Ashok Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Abhishek Singhvi, Ajay Maken, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Digvijaya Singh, Tariq Anwar, Salman Khurshid, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, Rajeev Shukla, and Prithviraj Chavan are other top party officials who supported Kharge’s nomination.
Ashok Gehlot, the chief minister of Rajasthan, defended Kharge on Thursday, claiming that he will “make the party stronger as Opposition.” Gehlot claimed in a video released to his social media accounts that it was “urgent” to elect a party leader with such a personality who could converse with the leaders of the opposition.
“Party veteran and charismatic leader Mallikarjun Kharge has a wealth of leadership skills. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha and the winner of nine Assembly elections and two Lok Sabha elections. In his more than 50 years of life, he accumulated a great deal of experience. The Congress president should be someone with extensive experience in the Lok Sabha, the Assembly, or the Center. Additionally, he has a standing today that allows him to speak with the leaders of the Opposition, which is necessary at this point “Gehlot remarked.
In response to Shashi Tharoor’s allegations of a “uneven playing field” and “selective treatment” from the party leaders, there have been murmurs of support. At a news conference held at the Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) office, Tharoor claimed that while a number of PCC chairpersons and prominent party figures greeted Mallikarjun Kharge, they did not do the same for him.
“I am not complaining…I know that the vote of an ordinary (Congress) worker and that of a senior leader have equal value. So, I am not saying that it will have much impact on me. But if you are asking about the level-playing field, do you not see a difference in treatment?” he stated.
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