The grand old party of Indian politics got a new president today. Mallikarjun Kharge defeated his rival Shashi Tharoor by nearly 7,000 votes in the presidential election.
Kharge is a Dalit face. He has immense wealth of experience. Kharge had often come very close to becoming the Chief Minister of Karnataka. However, for many other reasons, he missed that bus.
But the chair of the National President of the Congress Party, which was earlier believed that would go to Ahok gehlot after Sonia Gandhi, was left for grabs after Gehlot did not file his nomination for the election.
For a few hours, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh remained a strong contender for the party’s president’s post. Ultimately, Mallikarjun Kharge filed his nomination for the post of President as the official party candidate, and Singh had to withdraw his candidature.
According to journalists who have a good hold within the Congress party, Kharge was being considered the new president of the party from the time he filed his nomination.
Counting of votes took place at the party headquarters on Wednesday, 19 October. While 7897 votes were cast in favor of Kharge, Shashi Tharoor got 1073. More than four hundred votes were rendered invalid.
The 80-year-old Kharge has contested 12 elections since 1972. He had to taste defeat only in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Kharge has nearly 5 decades of experience in electoral politics. With experience, he is also considered very close to the Gandhi family. After the announcement of the results, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi congratulated Kharge after reaching his residence.
Kharge has been elected as the President of the party at a time when there is nothing left for the party except ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ which can be seen from a positive point of view. After 2014, the party kept losing power in many states. At present, the Congress has absolute majority governments in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. The party is with the ruling party in Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Jharkhand.
In the last nine years, many big leaders have also left the party. What happened recently in Rajasthan had sent a message to the people that even the orders of a weak high command can be challenged by any other leader.
After Kharge became the president, not only has there been a hope among the party workers, but the people of the country, who are looking for a strong opposition to rein in a strong government in the country, have also raised their hopes.
Kharge has got a new responsibility, but apart from the odd circumstances, there are also difficult challenges in front of him. Kharge will have to overcome the following challenges at the earliest.
Strengthening the organization at the grassroots level
It will also be a big challenge for Kharge to make the party reach more and more people and connect more and more people with the party. It has been seen that most of the Congress leaders target the government on social media, but their hold on the ground has become weak. The best example of this is the loss of Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi seat. Despite being the Congress President, he could not even save his traditional seat.
Major reforms in the organization
There are still many such leaders in the organization who are sitting in high positions due to their closeness to the Gandhi family. Working leaders are working without posts. Kharge will have to give a chance to hardworking leaders to come forward.
Stop migration
The process of exodus of leaders in the party continues. Ghulam Nabi Azad is the latest example. There are still many leaders in the party who are not happy with the leadership of Sonia Gandhi. He has made up his mind to leave the party. Kharge will have to face the challenge of identifying such leaders, following them and removing their displeasure and retaining them in the party. If this does not happen and the process of migration continues, then a negative message will be sent to the people.
Challenge of better performance in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
Even before Kharge became the president, the date for the assembly elections to be held in Himachal Pradesh has been announced. In a few days, the date for the Gujarat assembly elections will also be announced. As president, Kharge will have no time to do something big, but the challenge will be in front of Kharge to improve the performance of the party in these two states to infuse energy among the party workers.
Role of Gandhi family in the party
Kharge may have been elected the head of the party by getting more than 8000 votes, but the way the election process has been done, people have doubts that he has been made the president. He became the president only with the blessings of the Gandhi family. The challenge for Kharge ahead is to establish himself as a chieftain. The challenge before them is not to see the remote control of the Gandhi family.
Challenge to take on BJP’s aggressive politics
BJP is doing aggressive politics in the country. The identity of BJP has become that of an election winning machine. Along with the issues of the common people, the challenge of answering the BJP aggressively is also in front of the new Congress President.
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