Mallikarjun Kharge to not contest Lok Sabha polls? Congress president drops big hint

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday rejected suggestions that senior leaders of the party were shying away from contesting the coming Lok Sabha elections.

Kharge, however, indicated that he may not enter the poll fray this time with age being a factor, PTI reported.

“It is wrong that we are backing out,” Kharge told reporters. “I am 83 years old, you (journalists) retire at 65…So I am 83.”

“If given a chance, everyone goes and tells our party workers (that I should fight)…if they say then I will definitely fight. Look, sometimes we are at the back, sometimes we are at the forefront, we also have a list of ten people asking for the same seat,” he added, according to PTI.

Kharge made the remarks while speaking to mediapersons at a press conference at his residence in New Delhi.

Kharge was the MP from Karnataka’s Gulbarga from 2009-2014. He lost his seat in 2019. He is the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha.

‘BJP stole our guarantee’

On another question about the comparison between Modi’s guarantee and that of the Congress, Kharge accused the BJP of copying their idea.

“They stole our guarantee. We started in Karnataka, won the elections, later we did it in Telangana. …Modi Saheb is stealing our guarantee and saying ‘this is our guarantee’,” the Congress chief said, according to PTI.

Kharge also said that his party has started the process of making draft rules for the Minimum Support Price (MSP) that will be implemented once they come to power.

“The guarantee is for MSP (minimum support price). We announced MSP for farmers. We are also making a law to ensure MSP guarantees for their crops, we will legalise it. This is also our guarantee.”

Farmers, particularly from Punjab, have been protesting against the Centre to press them to accept their demands, including a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP). They have been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points since February 13, when security forces stopped them from marching towards Delhi.