The country’s oldest party is going to get the president as it wanted at this time. Congress does not need a president like Shashi Tharoor nor does it need presidents like Digvijay Singh and Ashok Gehlot. He needs Mallikarjun Kharge. However, many Congress people have a different view on this. They say that Kharge is 80 years old. They have even made a joke that 75-year-old Sonia Gandhi’s successor is 80-year-old Kharge! His health is also not very good. They come from South India. There is also some language problem with them. They will not be able to compete with Modi. They are not very dynamic and will not be able to work very hard. They don’t deserve to breathe new life in Congress etc etc. But those who say all such things are either completely missing the central point or are looking at Kharge’s presence as Congress President with a very limited or biased perspective.
Kharge as president should be seen only from the perspective of how Congress needs a president right now? The Congress needs a President who understands the core points of Congress politics, who knows the Congress organization, on whom the high command has 100% confidence, who is available to the workers at all times and who is the leader of the party. Listen patiently to all the talks of the leaders and workers and work according to the high command. Congress needs such a president, so that the illusion of internal democracy can be created and people can be convinced about it. The Bharatiya Janata Party has created a similar illusion through JP Nadda and the people of the country also believe in him. In fact, like films, politics is also the name of the art of convincing people. Like movies, people willingly put common sense aside even after watching the gimmicks of politics.
However, Kharge’s biggest strength is his experience. He started his political journey as the Congress President of Gulbarga city and it was in that year, when Sonia Gandhi had come to India just one year. Kharge started his political journey in 1969. Three years after this, in 1972, he became an MLA for the first time and except for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he did not lose any election in the middle. That is, remained invincible for 47 years! Nine times MLA and twice elected to Lok Sabha. He started from the city Congress and became the state president and now he is going to become the national president. He was an MLA, a minister in the state government, a state president, a member of the Lok Sabha, a minister in the central government, a party leader in the Lok Sabha and then a party leader in the Rajya Sabha. So, who knows the core values of Congress, party politics and the needs of parliamentary politics better than him!
Kharge comes from the Dalit community and follows Buddhism. He is a follower of Buddha, so restraint, contentment, non-possessiveness and walking on the middle path are part of his innate nature. Can someone tell who is such a leader of Congress, who is naturally a contender for the post of Chief Minister and from whom this opportunity has been snatched not once, not twice, but thrice, and whose mouth has not come out? Kharge is the leader who was prevented from becoming the Chief Minister thrice in 1999, 2004 and 2013. Despite this, he continued to work for the Congress with the same devotion and dedication. He must have had grievances and he may have placed complaints before his party high command but he never allowed it to become public. What happened now in Rajasthan or as the Madhya Pradesh government went in the tussle for a Rajya Sabha seat shows the difference between Kharge’s two former contenders for the Congress President.
Kharge’s ability is being questioned only by those who have not seen him working or who are looking at him based on the prejudices of South Indian, Dalit and 80 years old. Mallikarjun Kharge became the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha when the Congress was reduced to a party of 44 MPs after a historic defeat. Even half of these 44 MPs were always absent from the House. Those who have seen Kharge battling with the BJP, which has a thumping majority of 300 MPs in the Lok Sabha with a handful of MPs, are aware of his capabilities. The clarity of thought in the debates of Parliament is unmatched in Kharge. Be it in parliamentary proceedings or as the chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, Kharge made a mark everywhere. Wherever necessary, he coordinated with all the opposition parties and put the BJP and the central government in the dock at the policy and ideological level.
It also needs to be kept in mind that the Congress President does not have to fight or challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He does not have to lead the 2024 election. Everyone knows that this work will be done by Rahul Gandhi. But before and at that time too, the Congress needs a leader who can act as an eye and ear for the party high command. Congress doesn’t need a mouth open all the time. That’s why Congress needs Kharge, not Shashi Tharoor or Digvijay Singh. If they sit patiently in the party headquarters and listen to all the talks of the leaders, assure them that their words will reach the right place and action will be taken on their complaints or suggestions, then it will be a big thing in itself. If the Congress President is easily available to the leaders and workers of every state of the country, then a lot will change by this. Leave the president for now, even the general secretary of the party does not meet the leaders and workers. In his presentation to the Congress, Prashant Kishor had told that the General Secretary of the Congress has not met 90 percent of the district presidents of the country. There was a great need to change this culture of Congress, which will be fulfilled by Kharge. In South India, especially in Karnataka, political gains will be made because of him and a positive message will be sent to the Dalit community, they have their place.
Believe me, Mallikarjun Kharge will succeed as Congress President in the same way as Manmohan Singh succeeded as Prime Minister. Kharge is exactly the same choice as Manmohan Singh was. One hundred percent devoted to the Congress High Command! They will work understanding the needs of the party and the wishes of the high command. The real power center of the party will be Sonia and Rahul Gandhi but Kharge will work in perfect harmony with them. The biggest need of the Congress at this time is that there should be no major conflict within the party and the party should look united. This message will be made from Kharge. He is a street fighter so he will not be left behind even where the BJP needs to compete on the road. He is a man of organization, a man of struggle!
