Tag: Rahul Gandhi

New Congress Chief

Kharge Is New Congress Chief; Revival Begins, Says, Tharoor

By LokMarg

Veteran politician Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday swept the party’s presidential polls paving the way for him to become the first non-Gandhi chief of Congress party in over two decades.

Chairman of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) Madhusudan Mistry today declared Mallikarjun Kharge as the elected President of the party.
“The total counted votes were 9,385, of which Mallikarjun Kharge received 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor received 1,072 votes. 416 were invalid votes. As per Article 18 (D) of the Constitution of Indian National, I hereby declare Mallikarjun Kharge as the elected President of Congress,” said Mistry.

Kharge’s opponent conceded defeat and went to the New Delhi residence of the Congress President-elect to congratulate him on his victory.

Tharoor said he believed “the revival of the party begins today”. “It is a great honor and a huge responsibility to be President of the INC and I wish Kharge Ji all success in the task,” the MP from Thiruvananthapuram tweeted.

Before the results were announced, party leader Rahul Gandhi during a press conference apparently jumped the gun and referred to Kharge as the party president.

“I can’t comment on Congress President’s role, that’s for Mr. Kharge (party’s Presidential candidate) to comment on. The President will decide what my role is…and where I will be deployed ask Kharge ji, Sonia ji,” said the Congress MP in Kurnool amid the Andhra Pradesh leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Meanwhile, other leaders of the party congratulated Kharge on his victory.

Party leader Jairam Ramesh said that Kharge’s victory is a triumph for the forces who place ideological commitment over personal glory.

“Mallikarjun Kharge has completed 50 years in electoral politics. He has distinguished himself as a legislator and Minister in the state and at the Centre. He is a shining symbol of social empowerment inspired by Nehru, Ambedkar, Indira Gandhi, and Devaraj Urs,” Ramesh said in a tweet.

He further said that Kharge has always avoided flamboyance and has been the quintessential organization man working in a self-effacing manner to advance the collective interests of the Congress party.

He has the good wishes of all Congressmen and Congresswomen, he added.

Rajasthan Cong leader Sachin Pilot greeted Kharge and said that he has faith that the latter’s experience will benefit the party

“Mallikarjun Kharge won with a huge majority; a win of democracy. I congratulated him. I’ve faith his experience will benefit the party…9000 elected people elected the President, this was never done before by any party. Opposition must be nervous today,” said Pilot.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that Kharge has won with eight times more votes than Tharoor.

“Mallikarjun Kharge wins the Congress presidential elections with 7897 votes, Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes. Kharge has won with 8 times more votes,” said Tiwari.

For the first time in 24 years, the party has got a chief who does not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The new president will take place of Sonia Gandhi who has been serving as interim president after Rahul Gandhi stepped down from the post following the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress sources also said the elected president will take charge after Diwali in the presence of senior leaders in a program at the Congress headquarters.

Meanwhile, ahead of the declaration of results for the party’s top post, the Shashi Tharoor camp approached the party’s election authority alleging that it suspected “extremely serious irregularities” in Uttar Pradesh on the day of the polling and demanded that all votes from the state be deemed invalid.

In a letter to Congress Central Authority Chairman Madhusudan Mistry, Salman Soz the election agent to Tharoor wrote about “disturbing facts” including “reports of minor violations” guidelines in a few states including Uttar Pradesh during the polling on Monday.

The ex-Member of Parliament (MP) Salman Anees Soz in his letter underlined that they had no evidence that Mallikarjun Kharge was aware of how his supporters were engaging in electoral malpractice in Uttar Pradesh.

Incidentally, Uttar Pradesh has the largest number of Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates. (ANI)

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First Non-Gandhi Prez

Cong To Get First Non-Gandhi Prez In 24 Yrs, Counting Began At 10 am

By LokMarg

The Congress is set to get a new president on Wednesday with the counting to take place from 10 am.

Former Union Ministers Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are in the fray and it will be for the first time in 24 years that the party will get a party chief who does not belong to the Nehru-Gandhi family.
The new president will take the place of Sonia Gandhi who had been serving as interim president after Rahul Gandhi stepped down from the post following the party’s debacle in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The result is likely to be declared between 3 pm to 4 pm. The ballot boxes from the state headquarters have reached the counting place in the Congress office.

Mallikarjun Kharge is seen as the favorite to win the contest. Five agents from each side will oversee the counting while two agents from both sides will be kept in reserve, sources said.

The Chairman of the Central Election Authority will announce the result after counting. More than 9,500 delegates cast their votes in the presidential election which took place at the culmination of the party’s organizational polls.

Sources said seven-eight tables will be set up for counting of votes and each table will have two persons.

Congress sources said the elected president will take charge after Diwali in the presence of senior leaders in a program at the Congress headquarters.

It has not been decided whether the certificate will be given to the winner on Wednesday or later.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who was earlier the frontrunner for the post, will be in Delhi tomorrow. Rahul Gandhi will continue on the Bharat Jodo Yatra. (ANI)

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NCP Bharat Jodo Yatra

Sena, NCP To Join Bharat Jodo Yatra In Maharashtra

By LokMarg

Shiv Sena Chief and former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) President Sharad Pawar have accepted the invitation to take part in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, said a Congress leader on Monday.

A delegation of state Congress leaders on Monday met former CM Uddhav Thackeray at his residence ‘Matoshree’ and Sharad Pawar at Silver Oak and invited them for the yatra.
Congress leaders including HK Patil, Ashok Chavan, Balasaheb Thorat, Naseem Khan, Bhai Jagtap, and youth leader Suraj Thakur were present in the meeting.

The Bharat Jodi Yatra started by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will enter Maharashtra from the Nanded district in the first week of November and the Congress delegation invited both leaders to participate in the yatra.

“Both have accepted the invitation and the delegation was told that Sharad Pawar himself and Shiv Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray or Aaditya Thackeray would be involved in the yatra,” the Congress official said in a statement.

Bharat Jodo Yatra is getting support from various political parties and social organizations across the country and the response is increasing day by day. In Maharashtra too, the NCP and Shiv Sena (Thackeray faction) have agreed to participate in the yatra, adding to its importance. The Bharat Jodo Yatra reached a milestone on Saturday covering 1000 kilometres after starting from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent launched on 7 September 2022.

The 3500 kilometres yatra will be a historic event for the Congress and the entire country. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress said earlier in a statement.

Notably, Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march was the longest march by foot (389 kilometres in 24 days) between Sabarmati ashram to Dandi (Navasari) in Gujarat state.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach this milestone (1000 kilometres) when it reaches the outskirts of Ballari district, where a massive convention will happen with lakhs of Congress supporters, the party said in its release. (ANI)

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Bharat Jodo Yatra: MP Francisco

Want Rahul To stop Bharat Jodo Yatra: MP Francisco

By LokMarg

Congress MP Francisco Sardinha on Monday claimed that the Congress is the “only party” that can defeat the BJP and hence Rahul Gandhi should now stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra and go to Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to campaign for the Assembly polls.

“I want Rahul Gandhi to stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra and go to Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat to awaken the public so that they vote for the only party that can defeat BJP. The only party that can be an opposition to BJP is Congress,” said Congress MP Francisco Sardinha after casting his vote for the next president of Congress.
The Election Commission on Friday declared that Assembly polls will be held in Himachal Pradesh on November 12 and the counting of votes will take place on December 8.

The 182-seat Gujarat Assembly will go to polls later this year.

Sardinha, who is also a former Chief Minister of Goa, made this claim after casting his vote and also alleged that there is no point in contesting when one knows that their defeat is confirmed.

“Shashi Tharoor is my colleague. If I had to meet I would have requested him for it because I knew everybody would be for Mallikarjun, so what is the point when you know that you are 100 percent going to lose, you just want to show that you contested,” Sardinha said adding that he was sure of veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge’s victory for the party’s president post.

“Nothing new, there have been elections earlier, unopposed, Madam Sonia ji was the president, Rahul ji was the president and now there are elections and I am sure Mallikarjjun ji will be the new president of the Congress,” he said further.

The 3,500-km yatra from Kanniyakumari to Kashmir is observing a “rest day” on the day of voting for the next president.

In the race for the next president of Congress, party leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are in direct contest with each other.

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is pitted against party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of the Congress president on Monday, said the revival of the party has begun whatever the outcome and that the fate of the Congress lies in the hands of the party workers.

Tharoor said he was confident of winning the election but acknowledged the odds against him.

Meanwhile, Kharge also told ANI: “It is part of our internal election. Whatever we said to each other is on a friendly note. Together we have to build the party. (Shashi) Tharoor telephoned me and wished me luck and I also said the same.”

It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, as Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of the president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi in which she emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.

Sonia Gandhi is the party’s longest-serving president, having held the office for over 20 years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.

This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.

This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year history that polls are being conducted to elect the national president of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the party president unopposed. (ANI)

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Not Prepared For The Role of Kerala CM, says Shashi Tharoor

Revival Of Cong Has Begun: Tharoor; Kharge: Together We Will Build Party

By LokMarg

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is pitted against party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of the Congress president on Monday, said the revival of the grand old party has begun whatever the outcome and that the fate of the Indian National Congress lies in the hands of the party workers.

Voting for the Congress presidential polls commenced at 10 am today and will culminate at 4 pm. Results will be declared on October 19. The fate of the Congress party will be decided by over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who comprise the electoral college for electing the party chief.
Tharoor said that he was confident of winning the election but acknowledged the odds stacked against him

“I am confident. The fate of the Congress party is in the hands of party workers. The odds have been stacked against us as the party leaders and establishment were overwhelming with the other candidate,” Tharoor told media persons at Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram today.

Tharoor also said he had spoken to Kharge earlier in the day

“Today I spoke to Mr. Kharge and said whatever has happened, we remain colleagues and friends,” Tharoor said.

Kharge also told ANI today: “It is part of our internal election. Whatever we said to each other is on a friendly note. Together we have to build the party. (Shashi) Tharoor telephoned me and wished me luck and I also said the same.”

Meanwhile, Congress general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said that Congress was the only political party to hold elections for its president.

“This is a historic day. Rahul Gandhi will cast his vote in Ballari during Bharat Jodo Yatra. Party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi is expected to cast her vote around 11 am,” he told ANI.

Tharoor took to Twitter and said that they shared “devotion to the success of the Congress”.

Previously, Tharoor had said that if one just “plays safe”, they lose.

He tweeted, “Some people play safe in order not to lose. But if you just play safe, you will definitely lose.”

On Thursday, Tharoor alleged that he has been facing differential treatment from the party leaders as against his opponent Mallikarjun Kharge.

In the previous week, Tharoor had said he could act as a catalyst of change for the grand old party in order to revive the party’s presence in the country.

Meanwhile, Congress veteran leader and party’s presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge had said that his name was not suggested by the party supremo Sonia Gandhi and dismissed the speculations of receiving support from the party’s interim president.

Kharge said that Sonia Gandhi had never suggested his name for the party president position and called it a rumor.

Kharge further said that members of the party have elected delegates which are 9,300 in number, who will vote for the candidate and the one with the majority would be elected.

With the party, all set to elect its new president, the 75 delegates, including interim chief Sonia Gandhi, General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and other members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and senior leaders will cast their vote in the headquarters of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in New Delhi.

Apart from these, 280 other delegates will also cast their vote in the Delhi Congress office, the sources added.

The delegates who obtained prior permission from the Central Election Authority to cast their vote will vote in Delhi instead of their own state today.

It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of the president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi in which she emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.

Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party, having held the office for over twenty years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.

This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.

This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year-old history that polls are being conducted to elect the national president of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed. (ANI)

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Rahul Casts Vote

Rahul Casts Vote To Elect Next Cong President

By LokMarg

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi cast his vote to elect the new Congress president at the campsite of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka’s Ballari on Monday.

The 3,500-km yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir is observing a “rest day” on the 40th day of the march in Sanganakallu since its commencement on September 7.
Rahul Gandhi voted at the campsite, which was the meeting room container eventually converted into a polling booth for the elections.

As per the information from Congress’ Twitter, the Wayanad MP along with the 40 other Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates has been scheduled to cast their vote at the specialized booth amid the Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Earlier in the day, Congress interim chief Sonia Gandhi, party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cast their vote for the next president of the Congress party at the All India Congress Committee headquarters in the national capital.

Voting for the party’s presidential polls commenced at 10 am today and will culminate at 4 pm. Results will be declared on October 19. The fate of the Congress party will be decided by over 9,000 Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates who comprise the electoral college for electing the party chief.

Congress MPs P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh, and other party leaders have also cast their votes at the AICC office in Delhi.

In the race for the next president of Congress, party leaders Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are in direct contest with each other.

Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who is pitted against party veteran Mallikarjun Kharge for the post of the Congress president on Monday, said the revival of the party has begun whatever the outcome and that the fate of the Congress lies in the hands of the party workers.

Tharoor said he was confident of winning the election but acknowledged the odds against him.

He also said he had spoken to Kharge earlier in the day.

Meanwhile, Kharge also told ANI: “It is part of our internal election. Whatever we said to each other is on a friendly note. Together we have to build the party. (Shashi) Tharoor telephoned me and wished me luck and I also said the same.”

As per the sources, 280 other delegates are also scheduled to cast their vote in the Delhi Congress office.

The delegates who had obtained prior permission from the Central Election Authority to cast their votes will vote in Delhi instead of their own states today.

It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, as Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of the president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi in which she emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.

Sonia Gandhi is the party’s longest-serving president, having held the office for over 20 years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.

This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.

This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year history that polls are being conducted to elect the national president of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed. (ANI)

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New Congress Chief

Cong Prez Polls: Kharge vs Tharoor, Contest On Monday

By LokMarg

After 22 years the Congress is all set to witness a contest for the president post on Monday with senior party leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor pitted against each other to lead the party with new vigour so as to fulfil the aim of defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The voting will be done between 10 am and 4 pm, with the results will be declared on October 19.
“The delegates from all states will vote at their respective polling stations with a ‘tick’ mark for the candidate they support. Arrangements have been made for smooth polling,” said Central Election Authority Chairman of Congress Madhusudan Mistry.

“Ballot boxes will reach Delhi on Oct 18 & counting of votes will be done on October 19. A polling booth set up at AICC as well, where over 50 people will vote. The whole polling process will be fair & free, no doubt about that,’ he added.

It is not the first time that a non-Gandhi leader is contesting for the party presidency post-Independence, Jitendra Prasad contested for the post of the president about 22 years ago against Sonia Gandhi which Sonia emerged as a winner holding the mantle of the party for 20 years.

Sonia Gandhi is the longest-serving president of the party, having held the office for over twenty years from 1998 to 2017 and since 2019.

This time no member of the Gandhi family is contesting for the post of President.

This is the sixth time in its nearly 137-year-old history that polls will be held to elect the President of the party. In the 2017 elections, Rahul Gandhi became the president unopposed.

“There’s no problem with our ideology but I want to bring a change in our way of work… Mallikarjun Kharge is an experienced leader, if he wins, we’ll work in cooperation naturally,” Congress Presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor said ahead of the polls tomorrow.

Kharge, “It’s my duty to strengthen the org & fight vindictive policies of BJP-RSS, they’re dividing the country on basis of religion; they’re dividing the backwards, scheduled castes, minorities. They see everything through an election point of view.”

“We’ve to fight from parliament to street. It’s difficult as unemployment& inflation are there, GDP growth is falling, the value of rupee is going down, petrol-diesel & essential commodities’ prices are going up,’ he added.

More than nine thousand delegates will vote in this election. The state from which the delegate belongs will have to go to the Congress headquarters of that state and vote.

Apart from the Congress headquarters in the states, the voting facilities will also be available at the party’s central headquarters at 24 Akbar Road.

In Delhi, those delegates can cast their vote who have obtained prior permission from the Central Election Authority to cast their vote in Delhi instead of their own state.

Congress Working Committee members including Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and Priyanka Gandhi and some senior leaders will vote in the booth at the Congress headquarters.

About 40 delegates involved in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, including Rahul Gandhi, will be able to cast their vote in the camp itself.

A polling station is being set up at the Sanganakallu campsite in Bellary.

While the two contestants Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge will cast their votes in their respective state’s headquarters Trivendram and Bengaluru

After voting, the ballot boxes from all the states will be brought back to Delhi where the results will be announced after the counting of votes on October 19. (ANI)

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Rahul Meets Workers Who Suffered Electric Shock During Bharat Jodo Yatra

By LokMarg

Some Karnataka Congress workers were admitted to hospital after suffering an electric shock while tying flags to a pole during the Congress party’s ongoing ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ led by Rahul Gandhi.

The former Congress President informed about the incident on Sunday through his Facebook post. He called the incident “unfortunate” and said that the injured had been admitted to hospital.
“An unfortunate incident occurred during the Yatra today. A few of our friends suffered an electric shock while tying flags to a pole. They have been tended to in the Civil Hospital, New Moka, Ballari. I am happy to see that they have not suffered any major injuries, and their morale continues to remain high,” the Congress leader said in his Facebook post.

The MP from Wayanad further advised everybody involved with the Yatra to take safety precautions and “utmost care”.

“Even in this moment of distress, the spirit of the #BharatJodoYatra took over. Those injured were immediately helped and taken care of, and their safety and health were prioritized. I would like to take this opportunity to tell all those involved in the Yatra to take safety precautions and utmost care while they go about fulfilling their duties as we forge ahead in our mission to unite India.”

Rahul Gandhi has been leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra since September 7 aiming to cover a distance of 3,500 km, covering as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the following year by covering 25 km every day.

Currently, the Yatra is in its Karnataka leg and has covered more than 1000 kilometers so far.

According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and awaken the country’s people to the dangers of economic inequalities and social polar and political centralization.

Notably, all the party MPs, leaders, and workers along with Rahul Gandhi are staying in containers. Sleeping beds, toilets, and ACs are also installed in some of the containers. The arrangements have been made keeping in view the intense heat and humidity with the change of places.

The Congress suffered a debacle in the assembly polls held earlier this year and the Yatra is seen as an attempt to rally the party rank and file for the upcoming electoral battles. (ANI)

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Bharat Jodo Yatra

Bharat Jodo Yatra To Reach Milestone Of 1000 Km Tomorrow

By LokMarg

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach a milestone on Saturday covering 1000 kilometers after starting from Kanyakumari, the southernmost tip of the Indian subcontinent launched on 7 September 2022.

The 3500 kilometers yatra will be a historic event for the Congress and the entire country. It is the longest march on foot by any Indian politician in the history of India, the Congress said in a statement.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi march was the longest march by foot (389 kilometers in 24 days) between Sabarmati ashram to Dandi (Navasari) in Gujarat state.

The Bharat Jodo Yatra will reach this milestone (1000 kilometers) when it reaches the outskirts of Ballari district, where a massive convention will happen with lakhs of Congress supporters, the party said in its release.

Many co-marchers that included MLAs, MLC, block, and district INC committees, workers, cadres, and support staff were astonished at the energy level Rahul Gandhi displayed en route.

The routine that he followed during the last 1000 kilometers, before resuming after overnight rest has motivated many co-marchers.

20 minutes of exercise, light breakfast in the morning, and throughout the day 25 kilometers of walking on the hot bituminous tarmac and sometimes braving hot sun and showers as he traveled across the three southern states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka.

What surprised the organizers was the lakhs of people from common walks of life participating in the historic journey on foot.

In Tamil Nadu, over a lakh people joined while in Kerala it was close to 1.25 lakhs, and in Karnataka, till Friday it was close to 1.50 lakh people a day.

It is expected when it enters Andhra Pradesh it will be close to 2 lakh people.

As part of his Bharat Jodo Yatra, during its leg in backward areas of Badanavalu village in Chamarajanagar district in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi inaugurated a path with colorful interlocking tiles connecting the Dalit quarters of the village with that of the Lingayat community.

Named ‘Bharat Jodo’ Road, the path was renovated in a matter of 48 hours by the INC which said it aimed to send out a message of harmony among communities. Gandhi even laid some of the pink-and-blue tiles himself, thus reopening a link that had been cut off nearly three decades ago in violent circumstances.

Rahul Gandhi during the stretch of Karnataka in Chitradurga met a number of women from the tribal communities and interacted with them they were from Banjara, Dakkaliga, Sudugadu Siddha, Dombaru, Dhombi Dasa and elicited their views on how their lives could be improved.

This is the first time that a national leader of a national party of the stature of Rahul Gandhi visited them. The women were dressed in their traditional dresses and even presented a dance in his honor and welcomed him by performing an aarti.

Rahul Gandhi who has expressed his deep concern for the unemployed youth in various stages of his life as a parliamentarian chose to interact with over 2000 unemployed youth from all over Karnataka.

He met them and inquired with them about their strengths and skills and the causes of their unemployment and how they led their lives and supported their families. This was in Chellakere in the Chitradurga district.

Despite many lakhs of people joining the yatra in various stages, it was scheduled in two sessions 7 am to 11 am and 4 pm to 7 pm and in the intermittent period, Rahul made it sure that he met people from ordinary walks of life -farmers, fisherfolk (both inland and marine) construction workers, teachers, village level leaders and even some prominent people, writers scholars and intellectuals at various points of the Bharat Jodo Yatra. His day began at 5 am and ended at 11 pm, the party statement said.

In ways more than many, the Bharat Jodo Yatra for the first 1000 kilometers of out a total of 3,750 kilometers, has achieved its objective of ‘Bharat Jodo’ (unite India) the Yatra has adequately illustrated how diverse a country as India and its entire diaspora could be seen as one, transcending the barriers of caste, religion, language, regions, and cultures and seen as one.

Rahul Gandhi even before setting out on this odyssey had told his Yatra managers to route the yatra in such a way that he would see the real India and the people, after meeting an entire cross-section of the society so far, people in the close circles of Rahul Gandhi feel that the objective of the Yatra has been realized to a great extent.

From here (after 1000 kilometers), it will be getting only tougher when the Yatra will traverse through difficult terrains unruly weather, and new challenges. (ANI)

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tharoor On Uneven Playfield In Prez Polls

Difference In Treatment: Tharoor On Uneven Playfield In Prez Polls

By LokMarg

Ahead of the run-up to Congress presidential polls, party MP and a contender for the top post-Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said he has been facing differential treatment from the party leaders as against his opponent Mallikarjun Kharge.

Notably, Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress President.
Addressing a press conference here, Tharoor said, “We are contesting elections. There is no spirit of enmity in our party. Kharge Sahab is my senior leader and I have worked closely with him. The election is about two colleagues seeing how to work to strengthen the party.”

On his “uneven playing field” remark, Congress presidential candidate Tharoor said, “…In several PCCs, leaders welcomed and met Kharge Sahab. The same was not done for me. I visited PCCs but PCC chiefs were not available. I am not complaining, but do you not see a difference in treatment?”

He said his party men should vote for him only if they are seeking a change in Congress.

“Do you want the party to go with change or are you satisfied with everything? If you think everything is fine, do not vote for me as I want such a change in the party that would bring back voters who did not remain with us in 2014 and 2019,” added the Thiruvananthapuram MP.

Earlier this week, Tharoor had said he could act as a catalyst of change for the grand old party in order to revive the party’s presence in the country.

Regarding rumors that Kharge is an official candidate for party chief and he is not, Tharoor said, “Some people are saying Kharge is an official candidate and I am no one. But I want to say that the Gandhi family is unbiased and no one is an official candidate as we are standing for strengthening of the Congress party. If someone is saying that delegates are asked to vote for a certain person, it’s not true.”

Meanwhile, Congress veteran leader and party’s presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge had said that his name was not suggested by the party supremo Sonia Gandhi and dismissed the speculations of receiving support from the party’s interim president.

Kharge said that Sonia Gandhi had never suggested his name for the party president position and called it a rumor.

Kharge further said that members of the party have elected delegates which are 9,300 in the number who will vote for the candidate and the one with the majority would be elected.

Notably, Digvijaya Singh pulled out from the race earlier and extended his support to Kharge, who he said is a senior and respected leader of the party, and against whom he “cannot think of contesting”.

Singh was the second Congress leader to pull out of the race after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced he would not contest the elections following the political turmoil in his state.

With the Gandhis not running for the top post, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years.

Voting will take place on October 17 and the election results will be declared on October 19. (ANI)

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