There is little doubt that veteran Mallikarjun Kharge has the backing of a sizeable number of party stalwarts. He is the candidate that has the most needed blessing in the party.
In his maiden campaign pitch in the capital, Kharge gave ample evidence that he would toe the party line as he blamed the central government for misusing the central probe agencies – a view totally in coherence with the party lines.
“All the autonomous bodies, whether CBI, IT, ED, vigilance or any other, all agencies have been weakened and brought under their control,” the octogenarian leader said as he played the blame game.
Though he spoke little about his vision for reviving the Congress party’s rapidly fading aura, Kharge stated that the decisions made at the party’s Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir in Udaipur would be respected.
Speaking to the media, Kharge, who is also a Rajya Sabha MP, said, “I have come here today as the Congress president election is taking place and… all of you must have seen how many backed me for the presidential poll. That is why I filed the nomination.”
Kharge, who had earlier resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, said, “I want to fight because the conditions in the country are bad.” Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Kharge said, “Especially Modi-Shah, BJP and RSS, they have been doing a kind of politics where democracy has no standing. They have a different way of following the Constitution. ”
Highlighting the doctrines adopted at the party’s Udaipur meeting, Khadge said that he resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition to follow the ‘one man, one post’ rule adopted by the party in Udaipur.
When asked about the declaration on 50 per cent reservation for people below 50 years of age, Kharge said, “I would clarify that the Udaipur declaration will be implemented with the help of all.”
Canvassing for support, Kharge, the seasoned campaigner who has been associated with the party for over five decades, said, “In the last five decades I have been on several posts from a member of the block Congress committee, then MLA, then Leader of the Opposition state assembly, Minister, then MP, and then reached Rajya Sabha.”
“I have been an opposition leader in the Karnataka assembly and then I was made opposition leader in Rajya Sabha. I have been in politics since my student days,” Kharge said, harping over his long association with politics.
When asked about the allegation that delegates are making a favourable statement in his favour, Kharge said, “I am not forcing anyone to vote in my favour. Delegates are expressing their own views.”
Kharge is facing senior leader Shashi Tharoor in the Congress presidential election, which is taking place after a gap of 21 years.
Elections for the party’s top post are scheduled for October 17, and the counting of votes will take place on October 19.