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Congress chief polls: Won’t corner Gandhi family; will follow their ideology: Kharge
During meeting with Congress delegates from Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, Mallikarjun Kharge said that he wishes to give 50% of party tickets to youngsters
Senior Congress leader and a contender for the party’s presidential elections Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said that if he gets elected as the party president, he won’t corner party’s incumbent president Sonia Gandhi and her family but will follow the grand old party’s ideologies to win support.
Kharge was present in Chandigarh’s Congress Bhawan on Wednesday to address and seek support from as many as 500 party delegates and senior leaders from four regions, including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh.
During his visit, Kharge said, “I am fighting the presidential poll only because the Gandhi family refused to contest for the seat. I always wished for Rahul Gandhi to be elected as the next president. Since the Gandhi family is not in the fray this time, I will make sure that their ideologies and welfare schemes reach to every person. I will not corner the Gandhi leaders as their power, support and ideologies helped us in winning many seats in past years”.
When asked if he can win the 2024 elections against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress leader said, “Modi fights for different ideologies and no one from his party has ever fought for the country. His government is simply a name change government (opposite to the party’s name). I will fight for Congress’s ideologies and will carry forward the ideologies of party’s great leaders including Jawaharlal Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Abdul Kalam, and will continue upliftment, progressive and welfare ideology of the deprived sections”. He added that he wishes to give 50% of the party’s tickets to youth (aged upto 50 years) from different sections of the party and the society in all elections.
Notably, Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress president. The 80-year-old leader further added that, “Tharoor is my younger brother and we are members of the same family. We both want betterment of the party and country”. The Congress presidential polls will be held on October 17. The results will be declared on October 19. Meanwhile, Kharge’s election campaigner Deepender Hooda (Rajya Sabha MP from Haryana) said that Kharge is not only one of the senior most leaders of Congress but is a tall leader of the country. “His experience and balanced leadership will strengthen the party. There is enthusiasm in every section of society, including Dalits, due to the nomination of Kharge. His participation in the presidential poll is a sign of political participation of all sections”.
