Ahead of Congress prez polls, endorsement by G-23’s Tewari, Gehlot for Kharge

Voicing support for Congress presidential candidate Mallikarjun Kharge, Lok Sabha member Manish Tewari on Thursday said that the veteran leader can provide stability to the party.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tewari said that Congress needs a “safe pair of hands” in form of Kharge who has dedicated over 50 years of his life in service of the grand old party.

“If all the facts are considered and an impartial assessment is done, then Mallikarjun Kharge who has dedicated over 50 years of his life to the service of Congress, in that case, I believe that in this situation, the Congress party needs a safe pair of hands in the form of Kharge,” Tewari said.

“He is a composed personality. Kharge has spent several years and has grown from the lowest posts in the party. Congress needs stability which I feel Kharge can provide,” he added.

Tewari was part of the so-called G-23, a now largely defunct grouping of senior Congress leaders who, in 2020, wrote to interim party president Sonia Gandhi asking for changes in the way the party functions. While Tharoor also belongs to the G-23, most of the Congress dissidents have backed Kharge for the top party post. Tewari was one of the proposers for Kharge when the latter filed his nomination for the party president election.

Other senior party leaders who backed Kharge’s nomination include AK Antony, Ashok Gehlot, Ambika Soni, Mukul Wasnik, Abhishek Singhvi, Ajay Maken, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Digvijaya Singh, Tariq Anwar, Salman Khurshid, Pramod Tiwari, PL Punia, Rajeev Shukla, and Prithviraj Chavan.

On Thursday, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot batted for Kharge saying the Rajya Sabha member will “make the party stronger as Opposition”. In a video posted on his social media accounts, Gehlot said that such a personality should be elected as the party president who has the stature to talk to the Opposition leaders, calling it the “need of the hour”.

“Mallikarjun Kharge is an experienced leader of the party with a rich personality. The person who has won nine Assembly elections and two Lok Sabha elections, he was also the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha. He gained so much experience in over 50 years of life. He who has a long experience at the Centre, Assembly, or Lok Sabha should become the Congress president. Along with it, he has a connection with the leaders and a stature today to talk to the Opposition leaders, which is the need of the hour,” Gehlot said.

The voices of support comes amid Shashi Tharoor’s claim of an “uneven playing field” and “differential treatment” from the party leaders. Addressing a press briefing at Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee (DPCC) office, Tharoor said that several PCC chairpersons and senior party leaders met and welcomed Mallikarjun Kharge but the same courtesy was not extended to him.

“I am not complaining…I know that the vote of an ordinary (Congress) worker and that of a senior leader have equal value. So, I am not saying that it will have much impact on me. But if you are asking about the level-playing field, do you not see a difference in treatment?” he asked.