Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 26: Veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday formally took over as the Congress president and vowed to break the “system of lies and hatred” prevailing in the country.
Taking over the party post at the AICC headquarters in Delhi after he was handed over the certificate of election, Mr Kharge said it was an emotional moment for him taking over the reins of the party from Mrs Sonia Gandhi and thanked the Congress workers for making an ordinary party worker its president.
“I know it is a difficult time, efforts are being made to change democracy established by Congress,” the 80-year-old leader said. “The Congress will break this system of lies and hatred that is prevailing in the country,” he said. He also hailed the on-going “Bharat Jodo Yatra” being led by Rahul Gandhi and said it was filling the country with a new energy.
Mr. Kharge said the Udaipur Declaration’s proposals such as 50% party posts to be given to those below 50 years of age, filling up organisational vacancies, setting up public insight department and election management department, establishing political affairs committee in states, would be implemented.
“What kind of new India is this where youth are not getting jobs, farmers are being crushed under jeeps, atrocities taking place against women are rising, people are reeling under price rise but government is sitting with eyes closed, government is helping a few crony capitalist friends,” Mr. Kharge alleged. “In this new India, hunger is rising, cost of education is rising, pollution is rising. The government is sleeping but ED, CBI are working for 24 hours for suppression. In this new India, Dalits, minorities and exploited people are being insulted and opportunities taken away from them…[Nathuram] Godse is called a patriot and [Mahatma] Gandhi is called a traitor, there are efforts to change Babasaheb’s Constitution and replace it with Sangh’s constitution,” Mr. Kharge alleged.
To make this new India, they want a Congress-mukt Bharat but the party will not allow this, the former Union Minister said. Mr. Kharge was handed over the certificate of election as the Congress president by the party’s central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry.
Mr. Mistry said he hoped other parties will draw a lesson from the Congress and hold polls for party presidency by secret ballot. Ahead of his taking over, Mr. Kharge visited Rajghat and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also visited the memorials of former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi and former deputy prime minister Jagjivan Ram, and paid tributes to the leaders.
Addressing the gathering, the outgoing president Sonia Gandhi said the Congress faced many challenges but with unity and strength it would move forward to tackle them as it has done before. She said she was confident that the Congress will be inspired and strengthened by Kharge’s leadership.
She said it is her biggest satisfaction that the new Congress president is very experienced and has risen from being an ordinary worker to such heights through his hardwork. Ms. Gandhi said she did her duty as Congress president to the best of her ability and was feeling relieved as she would now be free from this responsibility.
Senior party leader Shashi Tharoor, who lost to Kharge in the presidential elections, pledged his full support and cooperation to the new AICC chief in taking the party forward. Mr. Tharoor, who attended the event, in a tweet said, “Gathered for a brief chat after Kharge ji sat in his new office for a symbolic moment. Pledged him my full support & cooperation in taking Congress forward.” He also posted a picture sitting with Mr. Kharge and Ms. Gandhi after the ceremony at the party headquarters.
Soon after Mr. Kharge took over, all members of the Working Committee, general secretaries and in-charges tendered their resignations to enable the new chief to install his team. There has been a tradition of all office bearers of the Congress resigning soon after the election of the new president.
“All the CWC members, AICC general secretaries and in-charges have tendered their resignation to Congress president,” said AICC general secretary Organisation K.C. Venugopal.
According to the Congress constitution, the election of Mr. Kharge will be ratified at the plenary session of the party which is likely to be held in March-April this year. The new CWC, the top decision-making body of the Congress, will be reconstituted by Mr. Kharge soon after the plenary session.
However, till the time the election of Mr. Kharge is ratified, a new steering committee will be formed by the new party chief which will function as the CWC till the plenary session. According to the party Constitution, 11 members of the CWC will be nominated and 12 will be elected.