Ebb & flow: The sum of 2 yrs of Kharge’s Cong presidency
In his two years as Congress chief, battle-hardened Mallikarjun Kharge witnessed the ebb and flow of both national and state politics.
The 81-year-old — who had emerged the unlikely candidate for the post of Congress chief in 2022 when the hot favourite Ashok Gehlot withdrew at the last moment — led his party to 99 Lok Sabha seats in the 2024 General Election as against 52 it had in 2019 and 44 in 2014. In state polls, Kharge’s tenure was a mix of highs and lows; with the Congress winning Himachal Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka but losing key Hindi belt states of Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh to the BJP.
The party wasted a chance of returning to power in Haryana by beating the 10-year incumbent BJP which surprised everyone with a historic hat-trick. That said, Kharge’s principal contribution in the first two years of Congress presidency has been his ability to keep the trust of the Gandhis — who continue to call the shots — and still have his say in crucial matters of political strategy.
In most matters pertaining to party politics, LoP Rahul Gandhi is learnt to defer to Kharge, whose vast electoral experience has some handy for the party that was heavily demoralised after the 2019 Lok Sabha loss followed by defeats in key Assembly polls such as Assam, Uttarakhand, Manipur, Goa and West Bengal. Kharge — the nine-term former Karnataka MLA and a three-time MP — a party leader says, “may not have achieved that much but has managed to keep the party together and reenergise cadres”.
“He was a strong supporter to Rahul throughout the Bharat Jodo Yatra which helped the Congress with mass mobilisation. Both he and Rahul enjoy a good working relationship. Even if Khargeji has any grouses, he knows how to keep them to himself in the larger party interest. His ability to self-efface in a party where Gandhis remain the last word even today helps him and the organisation equally,” a senior Congress leader said.
The Rahul and Kharge bonhomie was visible today with the former leading the party brass in wishing Congress chief the best as he completed two years in his position.
Kharge had replaced Sonia Gandhi two years ago defeating rival Shashi Tharoor in an internal party poll where the entire might of the Gandhi family backed him. To celebrate the day, Rahul drove to Kharge’s Rajaji Marg house in Lutyens Delhi today where the Congress chief cut two cakes for his two years.
Senior leaders Kumari Selja, Ajay Maken, K Raju, Rajiv Shukla and Ramesh Chennithala were present as the gathering made some happy memories. The visuals stood in sharp contrast to ones BJP has been sharing — of Kharge waiting outside a door of the room where Priyanka Vadra filed her nomination for the November 13 Wayanad bypoll. The BJP has been amplifying that image to attack the Congress as “anti-Dalit”.
