Politics

โ€œCan Bring Change Which Kharge Canโ€™tโ€: Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor while addressing party workers at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Nagpur on Sunday, said that the Congress Presidentโ€™s polls are not a war, but only โ€œheโ€ can bring the required changes in the party

Nagpur: Ahead of the Congress presidential polls, Shashi Tharoor said that he represents change in the party which a leader like Mallikarjun Kharge canโ€™t bring about.

The Congress MP, while addressing party workers at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Nagpur on Sunday, said that the Congress Presidentโ€™s polls are not a war, but only โ€œheโ€ can bring the required changes in the party. โ€œWe are not enemies, itโ€™s not war. Some people are saying that Kharge Ji is a senior leader, and why donโ€™t I get out of the race for him? I respect Kharge Ji, but itโ€™s a poll for our partyโ€™s future. There are differences in the way we want to take the party forward,โ€ Tharoor said.

โ€œKharge Ji is a part of our leadership, and other than the Gandhi family he is among the top three leaders of the Congress party. But leaders like him canโ€™t bring change and will continue the existing system. I will bring the change as per the expectations of party workers,โ€ Tharoor further said.

Earlier on Saturday, while talking to ANI, Tharoor had called the Gandhi family an asset to the party saying, โ€œGandhi family and Congressโ€™ DNA is the sameโ€ฆNo (party) president is such a fool to tell โ€œgoodbyeโ€ to Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to usโ€.

Tharoor stressed that the contest between him and Kharge is โ€œnot a battleโ€ and it should be left upon the Congress workers to choose between the two.

โ€œThis isnโ€™t a battleโ€ฆLet party workers choose, thatโ€™s our message. Iโ€™m saying that if youโ€™re satisfied with the partyโ€™s work, vote for Kharge Sahab. If you want a change, Iโ€™m there. But thereโ€™s no ideological problem. There will not be any change in the message of the Congress party,โ€ he said.

Noting that the Central leadership in the party is taking all the decisions, Tharoor emphasised on giving rights to the lower levels of the organisation to take decisions.

โ€œAll the decisions are being taken in New Delhi these days. It would be good for the party if the right to take decisions is given to the grassroots at the levels of the blocks, Zilla and states,โ€ he said.
Notably, in the manifesto released by Tharoor soon after filing his nomination, he mentioned the need for โ€œdecentralizationโ€ in the party.

Talking about his decision to run for the partyโ€™s top post, he said that he intended to contest when the election was announced, backed by the party workers.

โ€œThe internal democracy that we are showing is not present in any other party. When the election was announced, I had the intention (to contest). I wrote an article, stating that the election is good for the party and mentioned its reasons,โ€ he said.

Also Read: โ€œCanโ€™t Forget 102 MLAs Who Saved Congress Govt In 2020โ€: Gehlot Backs Kharge

Tharoor and Kharge are up against each other in the race for the post of Congress president.

Digvijaya Singh pulled out from the race yesterday and extended his support to Kharge, who he said is a senior and respected leader of the party, and against whom he โ€œcannot think of contestingโ€.

Singh is the second Congress leader to pull out of the race after Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot announced he would not contest the elections following the political turmoil in his state.

With the Gandhis not running for the top post, the grand old party is all set to get a non-Gandhi president after over 25 years.

The results of the party polls will be declared on October 19.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by HW News staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

 

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