New Congress Chief

Cong Prez Polls: Kharge vs Tharoor, Contest On Monday

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

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

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

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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Last Rites Of Mulayam

Last Rites Of Mulayam In His Ancestral Village Saifai Today

The final rites of Samajwadi Party patriarch and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav will take place at his ancestral village Saifai in Etawah district on Tuesday.

Mulayam Singh passed away on Monday morning at the age of 82 at Gurugram’s Medanta Hospital due to age-related ailments. He was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the hospital last Sunday after his health deteriorated. He is survived by two sons, Akhilesh and Prateek.
Several chief ministers along with the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Om Birla expected to attend the funeral.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel will represent the Congress at the funeral of a Samajwadi Party veteran, according to sources.

Congress veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge will also participate in the funeral on Tuesday. Kharge is contesting the election of the party president, so he will not join as the party’s official leader.

However, it is not yet clear whether Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi who is leading the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka will attend.

Meanwhile, condolences poured in after the demise of the veteran Samajwadi Party leader and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh.

President Droupadi Murmu expressed condolences on the demise of veteran politician and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Monday, saying his death is an “irreparable loss” to the country.

“The death of Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav is an irreparable loss to the country. The achievements of Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji, who came from an ordinary environment, were extraordinary. ‘Dharti Putra’ Mulayam Ji was a down-to-earth veteran leader. He was respected by people of all parties. My deepest condolences to his family members and supporters!” the Rashtrapati Bhavan tweeted.

Soon after learning about the demise of the Samajwadi Party founder, Prime Minister Narendra Modi recollected his relationship with the veteran leader and tweeted, “Shri Mulayam Singh Yadav Ji was a remarkable personality. He was widely admired as a humble and grounded leader who was sensitive to people’s problems. He served people diligently and devoted his life towards popularising the ideals of Loknayak JP and Dr. Lohia.”

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla said, “I express my deepest condolences on the demise of former UP CM & veteran politician Mulayam Singh Yadav. Despite his old age and deteriorating health, he used to attend Lok Sabha sessions regularly. He served the country staying in various imp positions.”

Mulayam Singh Yadav had seen Uttar Pradesh go through many ups and downs during his five-decade-long career and remained almost synonymous with the politics of the state. Fondly called “Netaji”, he was well-versed in the politics of the most populous state of India.

National General Secretary, of Samajwadi Party, Ram Gopal Yadav said, “The politics of the country became poor due to the death of Netaji. The way he started politics after his entry into it, and the way he brought the common man to the forefront. Those who did not know the route to Lucknow and Delhi were also made MLAs and MPs.”

Born on November 22, 1939, in Saifai village of Etawah district, Mulayam Singh rose quickly in politics and became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh thrice; he also served in the Union government once as the Defence Minister.

He was elected 10 times as MLA and 7 times as Lok Sabha MP.

His career began when he was elected MLA in 1967 at the age of 28. He founded the Samajwadi Party on October 4, 1992, and soon turned it into a regional party based in Uttar Pradesh. His son Akhilesh Yadav took over the reins of the party later and is now its president. (ANI)

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Mallikarjun Kharge To Campaign in Gujarat

BJP Scared Of Rahul’s Popularity Due To Bharat Jodo Yatra: Kharge

Congress Presidential candidate and MP Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday claimed that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is “scared” of Rahul Gandhi’s “rising popularity” due to Bharat Jodo Yatra.

“Many people are associating themselves with Rahul Gandhi. BJP is scared after seeing Bharat Jodo Yatra. As Rahul Gandhi’s popularity is increasing, these people’s (popularity) is reducing,” Kharge said.
Earlier today, Kharge had said that he is fighting the Congress Presidential polls because the condition in the country is very “bad” and he wants to “fight” them.

“I want to fight because the condition in the country is bad. Modi and Shah are doing politics where there is no place for Democracy. Agencies like CBI and ED are weakening. To fight them I need to have power. That is why, on the recommendation of delegations, I am fighting the polls,” Kharge said.

Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress President.

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.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8. Voting will take place on October 17 and the election results will be declared on October 19.

The MP from Wayanad is currently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra- the 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the next year by covering 25 km every day.

According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, 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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303: Shashi

Tharoor: I Am A Catalyst Of Change In Cong

Emphasizing the need to win the trust of the voters again, Congress presidential candidate Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said to revive the party’s presence in the country, he could act as a catalyst of change for the grand old party.

He further offered a piece of advice to BJP saying the ruling party should start preparing to be a part of the opposition ahead of the 2024 General Elections.
Speaking to media persons in Mumbai, the Congress MP said, “Our party needs change and I feel I am the one who will be the catalyst of change.”

“Congress has run the country nicely, we have experienced people (in party)… we need to show our strength to re-win voters. Party needs to be attractive for it, needs to be confident so voters may give us their trust,” said Tharoor.

Suggesting BJP to start preparation for being a part of the Opposition, Congress presidential candidate said, “BJP should start preparing of being a part of the opposition as they will have to sit there after the 2024 elections.”

He further said he wants to make Congress strong for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“My aim is to make the Congress party strong for 2024 as our citizens are unhappy with the Modi government. People want the Opposition to be strong, as inflation is high as well as unemployment and hate speech too. In 2014 and 2019 we got only 19 percent of the votes, I want people to come to us who didn’t vote for us. I want people to look into us,” he said.

He further said that he and Mallikarjun Kharge are friends and the only difference between the two of them is the way of their work.

Clarifying the rumors that Kharge is an official candidate for party chief and he is not, to this 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 are a certain person but it’s not true.”

Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress president.

The voting for the Congress presidential elections is scheduled to be held on October 17 and the padayatra will take a break for a day for voting.

The last date for withdrawal of nominations is October 8. Voting will take place on October 17 and the election results will be declared on October 19.

With Gandhi’s not running for the top post this time around, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years. (ANI)

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Bharat Jodo Yatra

Congress To Fight Against Hate-Mongering: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi held an interaction with the masses as the Bharat Jodo Yatra resumed from Mayasandra, Tumakuru in Karnataka on Saturday and said that the party believes in fighting against those who spread hatred.

He also highlighted the fact that the community of the person spreading hatred doesn’t matter.

“My view is that it doesn’t matter who the person spreading hatred is, it doesn’t matter which community they come from, spreading hatred and violence is an anti-national act and we’ll fight against such people,” said Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

Stressing the integrity and unity in the country he said,” Our constitution states: Bharat is a union of states. It means all our languages, states and traditions have an equally important space. That is the nature of our country.”

The Congress leader also jibed at the opposition and said, ” I have always stood for a certain idea, that disturbs the BJP and RSS. Thousands of crores of media money and energy have been spent to shape me in a way that is untruthful and wrong. That will continue as that machine is financially rich and well-oiled.”

This was his third press interaction during the march.

The yatra is in its Karnataka leg and marked its 31st day today.

The march began at around 6. 40 am, informed veteran Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

“Day 31 of #BharatJodoYatra started at around 640am. Today @RahulGandhi

will be having his third press interaction so far during the Yatra at Turuvekere at 1 pm. We have entered Tumkur district now,” tweeted Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

The Congress veteran also outlined the party’s upcoming schedule during the yatra and informed that there will be polling booths during the march as over 40 PCC will be traveling along.

“40 PCC delegates are involved in the India Jodo Yatra. For these, polling booths will be set up at the campsite itself. Rahul Gandhi and other Bharat Jodo travelers will vote in this camp,” said Jairam Ramesh in a statement.

He also informed that the Bharat Jodo Yatra will have a grand rally on October 15 and will be halted on October 17 due to party presidential polls.

The party leader also underlined that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will celebrate Diwali in the camp and the march will be on hold due to Diwali.

Earlier on October 7, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that the teachers raised the issue of the Kannada language and culture being “under attack”.

He said that “our education system is under systematic attack from adverse ideological forces and that attack has reached now our curriculum.”

The Former Congress President said that he interacted with the teachers and students, who told him their concerns.

“I spoke to the teachers and students. The teachers said why government schools are being neglected. Why our culture, our ‘Kannada’ language is under attack? Why the glory of the history of Karnataka is being erased from textbooks Why our culture and history is being attacked and damaged?” Rahul said.

He said that the new NEP 2020 had been specially designed to undo everything that has been done in the past 75 years. He continued to add that Communalisation and Centralisation and Commercialisation were the only agendas behind these monumental changes effected by the State and Central Governments.

The Wayanad MP suspected that there were many deliberate and designed efforts to destabilize the education system and subvert the Constitution through these drastic measures.

The MP from Wayanad is currently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra- the 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering as many as 12 states. The Yatra started from Kanyakumari and will end in Kashmir the next year by covering 25 km every day.

According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, 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. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas.

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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UPCC Member Congress

Whoever Be AICC President, Rahul’s Writ Will Remain Unchallenged

Dr Devendra Pratap Singh, member of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, says Rahul’s stature will rise to unprecedented level at the end of Bharat Jodo Yatra. His views:

To understand the ongoing process for the election to the post of President of the Congress party, one needs to look at the selection of the new president of the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee, who is a BSP import. The day UPCC’s new President was announced, all old and dedicated Congressmen here in UP became very much disappointed.

First, they imported leftists into the UPCC, and now they have brought a president who has no roots in the Congress culture and ideology. Genuine Congressmen have been systematically sidelined in the last few years.

This is the real tragedy that the party is facing right now. And this reflects in the election process for central leadership too. There may be individual and differing opinions on whether Shashi Tharoor or Mallikarjun Kharge should become the new president. In my view, I truly feel that both of them could never come closer to Digvijay Singh in terms of a mass base, leadership credentials, and even loyalty to the family. But see how senior leaders have proposed Kharge’s candidature.

If I were to choose between Kharge and Tharoor only, I would prefer the latter. The selection of Kharge as party president may re-open North-South fault lines. I am scared of that. Although Tharoor also belongs to the South, he has an international and cosmopolitan stature. He is intellectual and has worked with the UN before joining the party. One more thing: Tharoor has consecutively won the last three elections to Parliament. On that score, he is one step ahead of Kharge.

In contemporary politics, elections are the final and decisive indicator of anything. We have a party in power that is sort of an election machine. It has changed the entire political scenario. Tharoor thus would be a much more charismatic option as Congress president.

ALSO READ: ‘Why I Took Party In Bharat Jodo Yatra’

But then we also see that this corrupt political environment is witness to the heinous kind of violence just for the sake of electoral victory. In Panchayat level or block level, we have seen a candidate killing his brother or father. Now, juxtapose this scenario with a man who is walking on roads to unite this country and protect our constitutional values! I am talking of Rahul Gandhi, a man, and a living saint, who is completely aware but undeterred by the political processes in his party or elsewhere.

Rahul Gandhi is a man upon whom I rest my full faith. When Bharat Jodo Yatra will end after 150 days, the political environment in this country will have completely changed. Mark the words of RSS leaders Hosabale and Mohan Bhagwat, and what they have spoken on Vijayadashmi. This shows that some sort of churning is going on inside Sangh and BJP. Mark the moves of Nitin Gadkari too.

The question of Congress president is irrelevant in the face of what is going to happen in this country. Be it Kharge or Tharoor or anyone else, he will eventually act as a dummy because Rahul Gandhi is going to outweigh anyone in Indian politics. But yes, just a rider in case — one can fight external enemies but surrender in front of the near and dear ones. We have seen how the Congress party got doomed in Punjab and how it nearly averted a crisis in Rajasthan just because of the overreaching interference. And now in the UPCC.

So, 2024 is going to be big. Rahul Gandhi is eventually going to emerge as a national leader. He is the face of the Congress party and will remain so in the coming years. A petty question like a party President’s post never matters for him because if Congress wins he is not going to accept any post. And that is why we respect him, just him, from the core of our hearts. This is the reason why I find this question of choice between Kharge and Tharoor insignificant. 

(The narrator is also general secretary and media panelist of UPCC)

As told to Abhishek Srivastava

Gauri Lankesh

Family Of Gauri Lankesh Joins Rahul For Bharat Jodo Yatra

Family members of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh, who was murdered in 2017, joined Congress’ Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi on Friday.

Indira Lankesh and Kavitha Lankesh – mother and sister of journalist walked with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as they participated in the party’s march.
Senior journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Naga on September 5, 2017.

Lankesh was the editor of the Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a magazine described as an ‘anti-establishment’ publication.

In November 2016, she was convicted of defamation and was sentenced to six months in jail, after she ran a piece in 2008 that Prahlad Joshi, a BJP MP from Dharwad, and Umesh Dushi, also of the BJP, found objectionable. However, the court also granted her bail and allowed her to appeal to a higher court.

Meanwhile, taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi shared a picture of the march with Gauri Lankesh’s mother and sister and said that he stands with Gauri Lankesh and countless others like her, who represent the true spirit of India.

“Gauri stood for Truth. Gauri stood for Courage. Gauri stood for Freedom. I stand for Gauri Lankesh and countless others like her, who represent the true spirit of India. Bharat Jodo Yatra is their voice. It can never be silenced,” he tweeted.

As the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered its 30th day on Friday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and party workers resumed the padayatra from K Malenahalli in Mandya in Karnataka.

The padayatra will be concluded today at Adhichunchanagiri Matha Stadium.

On Thursday Sonia Gandhi joined the Party Padyatra in the Mandya district of Karnataka.

“We’ve sailed through storms in the past. Today, too, we will break the limits of all challenges and will together unite India,” Rahul tweeted and posted a photograph of him walking with his mother, his arm around her.

Rahul Gandhi is currently leading Bharat Jodo Yatra- the 3,500-km march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, covering as many as 12 states. The Padyatra (march) will cover a distance of 25 km every day.

The Padyatra (march) is covering a distance of 25 km every day. The march was aimed to cover as many as 12 states in five months. It will be in Karnataka for 21 days before moving north.

According to Congress, the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ is being held to combat the divisive politics of the BJP-led Centre and to awaken the people of the country to the dangers of economic inequalities, social polarisation, 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. During the journey, the temperature and environment will differ in many areas. 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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