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Congress prez drama settles on Kharge vs Tharoor
Kharge, 80, filed his nomination on Friday and is seen the clear front-runner for the October 17 poll after his candidature was backed both by Gandhi family loyalists and members of the G23.
Rajya Sabha Leader of Opposition (LoP) Mallikarjun Kharge and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor will face-off in the Congress presidential election this month, ending days of high drama and chaos that have roiled the party, dented its poll process, and threatened to destabilise its national plans.
Kharge, 80, filed his nomination on Friday and is seen the clear front-runner for the October 17 poll after his candidature was backed both by Gandhi family loyalists and members of the G23, a group of leaders demanding internal changes in the party. His surprise candidature emerged late on Thursday night after Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot bowed out of the race, and a section of the party expressed discomfort with former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh throwing his hat in the ring.
Tharoor, 66, also submitted his papers on Friday and sought to frame the contest as one between generations. This is the first time in two decades that the position of Congress president will be decided in an election between candidates. A third candidate, former Jharkhand minister KN Tripathi, also submitted his papers.
“I have always been fighting this battle and I am keen to fight more to uphold the ideals of the Congress party with which I have been associated since my childhood,” Kharge said, flanked by some of Congress’s senior-most members.
Tharoor said those wanting change in the party should vote for him and described Kharge as a “candidate of continuity” and “status quo”, implying that the Karnataka leader was the choice of the party leadership.
Kharge’s nomination brought together Gandhi family loyalists and G23 leaders. Anand Sharma, Manish Tewari, Prithviraj Chavan and Bhupinder Hooda — key leaders who had written to Sonia Gandhi in 2020 demanding internal reforms -- supported Kharge’s candidature, underling their approval for the long-awaited regime change. Gehlot, Singh, former defence minister AK Antony and former Union minister Ambika Soni — all seen as loyalists of Sonia Gandhi – also signed his form.
In contrast, Tharoor’s form was signed by Sivaganga MP Karti Chidambaram, Kishanganj MP Mohammed Jawed and Nawgong MP Pradyut Bordoloi, among others. If elected, Kharge will be the first Dalit president of the party in 51 years. Former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram was the last Dalit chief of the Congress in 1970-71.
The Congress presidential election was aimed at showcasing vibrant internal democracy and blunt criticism of dynastic politics. But the process plunged into chaos last Sunday after 92 lawmakers close to Gehlot – he was set to file his nomination at the time and had the backing of the Gandhis – rebelled against the central leadership. This unexpected defiance cast a shadow on the poll process and the party’s ongoing mass-contact programme, Bharat Jodo Yatra. Eventually, after days of hectic parleys and political barbs, Gehlot apologised for the fiasco and withdrew from the race. Sonia Gandhi is set to decide on whether he will continue as CM on Saturday but removing him will be difficult given the overwhelming support he commands in the Rajasthan assembly.
With Gehlot out of the picture, Singh picked up his nomination paper on Thursday and was seen as having an edge over Tharoor. But some leaders were uncomfortable with the 75-year-old leader. A senior leader said on condition of anonymity that late Thursday evening, Kharge was sounded out by at least three leaders and, while he was initially reluctant citing his age, an emissary of the high command conveyed to him the message that he should also contest. “Our first choice was Gehlot, a Other Backward Classes (OBC) face of the party. But after he opted out, we had to find a suitable candidate. Kharge is the perfect choice. He is senior and widely respected, a Scheduled Caste and has held several important posts,” said the leader.
Kharge has held the positions of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha since February 2021, floor leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha between 2014 and 2019, a minister in Karnataka in 1996-99 and 2008-2009, the Union railways and labour minister between 2013 and 2014. He won six consecutive assembly elections from Gulbarga constituency, and two Lok Sabha elections from Gulbarga constituency before slumping to the first defeat of his political life in 2019.
“I have always fought battles on the basis of the ideology of the Congress party. I have been associated with Congress ideology since childhood…I got the first ticket in 1972, since then I have been continuously choosing and getting selected,” Kharge said.
Singh, who pulled out of the race on Friday, met Kharge at the latter’s residence this morning and decided to support him.
“Kharge ji is my leader. I can’t think of contesting against him. So, I will be his proposer,” Singh told the media.
Congress’s poll in-charge Madhsudan Mistry announced that 14 nomination forms were submitted by Kharge, five by Tharoor, and one by Tripathi. The forms will be scrutinised on Saturday.
Tharoor, a former Union minister of state for external affairs who also published a manifesto for his bid, hailed Kharge as “Bhishma Pitamah” and said, “Congress president assured me that the party has no official candidate, the Gandhi family will stay neutral in this race and they welcome as many candidates as possible. In that spirit, I put forward my candidacy. It’s not to disrespect anyone,” reiterating that it will be a friendly contest.
