Senior Congress leader and a contender for the party’s presidential elections Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday rubbished talks that he would act as a remote control and proxy of the party’s incumbent president Sonia Gandhi after being elected to the top post and said that all Congress presidents are selected through consensus unlike the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Kharge, who was in Ahmedabad to campaign for the Congress presidential election, was responding to a question at a press conference in Ahmedabad about the BJP’s claim that he would become the “remote control” and “proxy” of Sonia Gandhi after being elected to the top post.
The Congress leader said that if he was elected for the job, the remote control would remain with him.
“People say I am a remote control and work from backstage. They say I will do what Sonia Gandhi will say. Let me tell you that there is no such thing as remote control in Congress. People take decisions together. It is your thinking. I know that a few people are trying to create this idea,” Kharge said.
Asked about his competitor Shashi Tharoor and the possibility of him emerging as the consensus candidate uncontested, the veteran Karnataka leader said he was contesting the polls after colleagues and workers asked him to do so.
{{/usCountry}}Asked about his competitor Shashi Tharoor and the possibility of him emerging as the consensus candidate uncontested, the veteran Karnataka leader said he was contesting the polls after colleagues and workers asked him to do so.
{{/usCountry}}“How can I stop anyone from contesting? I don’t believe in such things and I am not here for that. This is a democratic process. When my party workers and supporters are urging me to contest, should I run away?” he said.
Criticising the BJP, he said, “How many times has the Prime Minister held (party president’s) election? All the (Congress) presidents were selected through consensus, and they are now trying to preach? Where is BJP’s remote control? When I become president, the remote control will be with me.”
Hailing Sonia Gandhi, Kharge said she had made a renowned economist the country’s prime minister (Manmohan Singh) rather than taking up the post herself or considering her son for it.
She hails from a family that has sacrificed its members for this nation and has even spoken of pardoning the killers of her husband, Kharge said.
“I have jumped into the fray to save the ideology of my party, the ideology of Gandhi, Nehru and to strengthen the call for unity given by Sardar Patel,” he said.
Kharge visited Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad on Friday where he along with other Congress leaders paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
The Congress presidential polls will be held on October 17. The results will be declared on October 19.