A clash of contrasts for Congress chief: Dalit grassroots leader Mallikarjun Kharge versus flamboyant UN ex-diplomat Shashi Tharoor

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 30

The Congress presidential election will witness a clash between two contrasting personalities — the grassroots, Scheduled Caste leader Mallikarjun Kharge and the flamboyant, former UN diplomat Shashi Tharoor who comes from the upper caste Nair community in Kerala.

Symbolism is writ large on the Congress’ move to project Kharge, 80, who looks a clear winner over Tharoor, 66, with the might of the Gandhis and the party’s electoral college titled heavily in favour of the former. While Tharoor joined the party only in 2009, winning the Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha seat thrice (he is into his third term now), Kharge joined the party in 1969 as Gulbarga city Congress chief. A political heavyweight from Karnataka, where he was MLA for nine terms over 37 years from 1972 to 2009, Kharge could never become chief minister but is well on his way to assuming party presidency now.

Rising through the grind, Kharge entered the national scene only in 2009 when he won Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat and retained it in 2014. He was a Union minister during his first stint in the LS. In 2019, Kharge lost the first-ever election in his entire career and was rewarded with Leader of Opposition post in the RS. He has held this post since February 2021. A man of humble beginnings from Bidar’s Varavatti, Kharge is famous in the Congress for absolute loyalty to the Gandhis and unmatched resilience. Despite losing out to colleagues SM Krishna and Siddharamaiah in the Karnataka Congress race, Kharge never rebelled.

Tharoor, in contrast, joined the G-23 group seen as challenging the authority of Sonia Gandhi. Articulate and frank in his opinions, Tharoor has had a baggage of controversies with some of his pro-PM Modi remarks not going down well with the Congress.

Even today, as soon as he filed the papers for the party president’s post, the BJP flagged the omission of parts of J&K and Ladakh in the map of India printed on the manifesto Tharoor circulated to the Congress delegates who will vote in the party chief’s election on October 17. Tharoor made light of the criticism, saying that “no one does these things on purpose” and apologised unconditionally.

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