Expectations and Challenges for New Congress Chief Mallikarjun Kharge.

Mr Kharge was competing against charismatic MP Shashi Tharoor, but swept the election, securing eight times more votes than his opponent.

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge was on Wednesday elected as the national president of the grand old party, beating Shashi Tharoor in a not so tightly fought contest. The veteran, who won 7,897 of the valid votes (84.14 per cent) of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates to Tharoor’s 1,072 (11.4 per cent), takes over as the first non-Gandhi chief of the party in two-and-a-half decades.

This could be termed as an easy win for Kharge which was also expected given the proximity with the Gandhi family. He celebrated the victory with all the dancings. The challenges that lie for him are herculean. While maintaining the status quo is easy, the biggest challenge before Kharge now is to transform the party to reconnect with the people and start winning elections again.

The first question that pops up in the head of every congress supporter is whether Kharge as a non-gandhi chief take baton against juggernaut of Modi. 

The Congress delegates have handed him the responsibility of finding a grip for the party that is possibly facing the worst crisis in its more than a century-old history. Will Kharge live up to such high expectations, not merely within but also of many others in civil society who look up to it as the principal opposition party?

If his track record is something to go by, Kharge has proven himself to be a committed Congressman more than once, showing exemplary skills in crisis management, governance and leadership and establishing his independent credentials over a political career spanning more than 50 years.

In previous article published on The Philox, we wrote the reason as to Why Congress needs Shashi Tharoor more than Mallikarjuna Kharge? It was written in the article published that

“Given the support of major congress leaders in India it is almost certain that Kharge will be new congress president.  Many alleged that Kharge as a congress president would be nothing but an extension of right hand of Gandhis. If that is the case the mandate of the democratic election in congress would still be undemocratic. In the run up to polls, the party has been mired in many controversies, including the one sparked by Shashi Tharoor’s “not a level-playing field" remark. He spoke about many Congress delegates openly supporting Kharge.”

“Tharoor has been vociferous critic of Modi government and its policies. He also wrote a famous book “Paradoxical Prime Minister”. His command over the English language make sures his opinion gets amplified to non-hindi region including north-eastern and southern states. He also has good experience of holding important central government portfolios”

Since role of Tharoor has been ruled out much has been expected from the 80 year old veteran (older than independent India).

To begin with, he will have to prove that he's not just a proxy for the Gandhi family and is actually in control of the party. Then, he will have to deal with dissensions within the Congress - in recent years, several senior leaders have either deserted the party or expressed their unhappiness with the way it's run

He may have been the Gandhi family’s second choice for the post and may wear a crown of thorns, but given his long-standing political career that was full of diverse experiences, Kharge will know that the only way for the Congress is to march ahead. Kharge may emerge as the ideal person who can complement the Gandhi family’s leadership in the party without being subservient to it.contact@thephilox.com

(If you would like to contribute any news item of any nature whatsoever mail us at contact@thephilox.com We also invite good opinion-based articles.)