Mallikarjun Kharge to formally take over as Congress president on October 26

By PTI

NEW DELHI: Hectic preparations have been underway on the Congress headquarters for Wednesday’s ceremony the place celebration president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the primary non-Gandhi to go the outfit in 24 years.

Kharge defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the highest publish within the grand previous celebration after the Gandhis opted out of the race. Security personnel and employees made last-minute preparations on the AICC headquarters lawns the place a tent was being put up and within the Congress president’s workplace room.

Chairman of the central election authority of the Congress Madhusudan Mistry will formally hand over the election certificates to Kharge on the perform, which may also see the presence of outgoing chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge, 80, takes cost of the celebration at a time when it faces a troublesome problem from a formidable BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has ousted the Congress from many states.

For Kharge, who has served as a frontrunner of the opposition within the Karnataka Assembly, chief of Congress in Lok Sabha and later chief of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, the present project comes at a time when the celebration is at a historic low, electorally.

With the Congress now remaining in energy in solely two states – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – by itself and in partnership as a junior accomplice in Jharkhand, Kharge’s first problem is to convey the celebration to energy in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, which go to polls within the subsequent few weeks.

Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are on November 12 however the dates for Gujarat are but to be introduced.

Later in 2023, Kharge will face the onerous activity of main the Congress in 9 meeting elections which can be due together with in his residence state of Karnataka the place he was an MLA for 9 phrases.

Kharge’s election additionally comes at a time the celebration is reeling beneath inner rumblings and high-profile exits after a collection of electoral debacles and has been lowered to a shadow of its former formidable self.

Beginning his profession as chief of the Gulbarga metropolis council, Kharge has additionally served as a state minister and a Lok Sabha MP from Gulbarga (2009 and 2014).

The previous warhorse is well-known for not dropping an election barring the 2019 Lok Sabha ballot from Gulbarga.

It was after that loss that Sonia Gandhi introduced Kharge to the Rajya Sabha and in February 2021 made him the chief of the opposition.

Kharge additionally faces the problem of restoring the Congress’ primacy within the opposition house, implementing radical reforms the celebration pledged on the mid-May Chintan Shivir in Udaipur and sustaining his independence within the face of insinuations that he’s a candidate of the Gandhi and would search their approval in all choices.

The final non-Gandhi Congress president was Sitaram Kesri, who was unceremoniously eliminated in 1998 simply after two years into his five-year time period.

A pacesetter with greater than 50 years of expertise in politics, Kharge can be the second All India Congress Committee (AICC) president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and likewise the second Dalit chief after Jagjivan Ram to carry the publish.

NEW DELHI: Hectic preparations have been underway on the Congress headquarters for Wednesday’s ceremony the place celebration president Sonia Gandhi will hand over the baton to her successor, Mallikarjun Kharge, the primary non-Gandhi to go the outfit in 24 years.

Kharge defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor in a direct contest for the highest publish within the grand previous celebration after the Gandhis opted out of the race. Security personnel and employees made last-minute preparations on the AICC headquarters lawns the place a tent was being put up and within the Congress president’s workplace room.

Chairman of the central election authority of the Congress Madhusudan Mistry will formally hand over the election certificates to Kharge on the perform, which may also see the presence of outgoing chief Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Kharge, 80, takes cost of the celebration at a time when it faces a troublesome problem from a formidable BJP led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi which has ousted the Congress from many states.

For Kharge, who has served as a frontrunner of the opposition within the Karnataka Assembly, chief of Congress in Lok Sabha and later chief of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, the present project comes at a time when the celebration is at a historic low, electorally.

With the Congress now remaining in energy in solely two states – Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh – by itself and in partnership as a junior accomplice in Jharkhand, Kharge’s first problem is to convey the celebration to energy in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, which go to polls within the subsequent few weeks.

Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh are on November 12 however the dates for Gujarat are but to be introduced.

Later in 2023, Kharge will face the onerous activity of main the Congress in 9 meeting elections which can be due together with in his residence state of Karnataka the place he was an MLA for 9 phrases.

Kharge’s election additionally comes at a time the celebration is reeling beneath inner rumblings and high-profile exits after a collection of electoral debacles and has been lowered to a shadow of its former formidable self.

Beginning his profession as chief of the Gulbarga metropolis council, Kharge has additionally served as a state minister and a Lok Sabha MP from Gulbarga (2009 and 2014).

The previous warhorse is well-known for not dropping an election barring the 2019 Lok Sabha ballot from Gulbarga.

It was after that loss that Sonia Gandhi introduced Kharge to the Rajya Sabha and in February 2021 made him the chief of the opposition.

Kharge additionally faces the problem of restoring the Congress’ primacy within the opposition house, implementing radical reforms the celebration pledged on the mid-May Chintan Shivir in Udaipur and sustaining his independence within the face of insinuations that he’s a candidate of the Gandhi and would search their approval in all choices.

The final non-Gandhi Congress president was Sitaram Kesri, who was unceremoniously eliminated in 1998 simply after two years into his five-year time period.

A pacesetter with greater than 50 years of expertise in politics, Kharge can be the second All India Congress Committee (AICC) president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and likewise the second Dalit chief after Jagjivan Ram to carry the publish.