Shashi Tharoor while addressing party workers at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Nagpur on Sunday, said that the Congress Presidentโs polls are not a war, but only โheโ 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 canโt bring about.
The Congress MP, while addressing party workers at Mahatma Gandhi Memorial in Nagpur on Sunday, said that the Congress Presidentโs polls are not a war, but only โheโ can bring the required changes in the party. โWe are not enemies, itโs not war. Some people are saying that Kharge Ji is a senior leader, and why donโt I get out of the race for him? I respect Kharge Ji, but itโs a poll for our partyโs future. There are differences in the way we want to take the party forward,โ Tharoor said.
โKharge 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 canโt 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, โGandhi family and Congressโ DNA is the sameโฆNo (party) president is such a fool to tell โgoodbyeโ to Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to usโ.
Tharoor stressed that the contest between him and Kharge is โnot a battleโ and it should be left upon the Congress workers to choose between the two.
โThis isnโt a battleโฆLet party workers choose, thatโs our message. Iโm saying that if youโre satisfied with the partyโs work, vote for Kharge Sahab. If you want a change, Iโm there. But thereโs 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.
โAll 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 โdecentralizationโ in the party.
Talking about his decision to run for the partyโs top post, he said that he intended to contest when the election was announced, backed by the party workers.
โThe 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: โCanโt 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 โcannot 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.)
As an independent media platform, we do not take advertisements from governments and corporate houses. It is you, our readers, who have supported us on our journey to do honest and unbiased journalism. Please contribute, so that we can continue to do the same in future.