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‘Did not enter Congress presidential race to oppose anyone’: Mallikarjun Kharge
Congress presidential election: It's Mallikarjun Kharge vs Shashi Tharoor in the race for the party's top post.
Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday said he has entered the race for the top post of the grand old party not to oppose anyone “but to strengthen the party”. As he launches his campaign, a day after his contender Shashi Tharoor, the 80-year-old leader further hit out at the BJP. He has quit as the leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha under the party’s “One Person, One Post” rule.
If elected, Kharge could be the first Dalit leader to hold the Congress chief’s post in nearly five decades after Jagjivan Ram.
"I have not entered the Congress presidential polls to oppose anyone but to strengthen the party,” said the seasoned leader, whose candidacy is also being linked to the upcoming Karnataka polls. Challenging him is former diplomat Tharoor, who promises change in the functioning of the party.
Tharoor has been constantly dismissing speculation that either of the candidates have earned the favour of the Gandhis amid buzz that Kharge has been backed by the top party leadership.
“The day I filed my nomination, I gave a resignation from my post aligning with the 'One Person One Post' decision of the party taken in Udaipur. I officially begin my campaign for the post of Congress party president today," Kharge was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
Continuing his criticism of the BJP, Kharge told reporters at the presser: "There is unemployment, inflation is rising; all promises of BJP remain unfulfilled."
Meanwhile, three party leaders have quit as spokespersons to campaign for Kharge. “I, Deepender S Hooda and Syed Naseer Hussain resign from the post of official spokesperson to campaign for the election of Mallikarjun Kharge as party president, and want this election to be free & fair,” Congress' Gourav Vallabh told reporters.
(With inputs from PTI, ANI)
