CONTINUITY VS CHANGE
THE WEEK India|October 16, 2022
Most party leaders acknowledge Kharge as the frontrunner, but Tharoor's candidature is generating some much-needed buzz within the party
SONI MISHRA
CONTINUITY VS CHANGE

Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge won his first assembly election in 1972 and repeated the feat a record eight times. He won the parliamentary polls in 2009 and 2014; it was in 2019 that he suffered his first electoral defeat. In the Congress presidential election, scheduled for October 17, his opponent Shashi Tharoor is a relative newcomer.

Their political experience is not the only area where the two candidates differ-they also have distinct personalities and are from disparate backgrounds. They are the two poles in an election that has generated immense buzz. A key reason for the interest is novelty, because it is after 22 years that the grand old party is having a presidential election. And, it will be after 24 years that a non-Gandhi becomes president.

Kharge, 80, who resigned as leader of opposition in the Rajya Sabha after he filed his nomination, has vast experience as an administrator and organisation man. He was the home minister in the S.M. Krishna government in Karnataka and a Union minister in the Manmohan Singh regime. It is said that the one post he really wanted was chief minister of Karnataka, but he lost out to other claimants on more than one occasion.

Thiruvananthapuram MP Tharoor, 66, is a former international civil servant. A third-term MP, he has served as Union minister of state for human resource development and later external affairs in the Manmohan Singh government. Like Kharge, there is a post he coveted and failed to winTharoor finished a close second to Ban Ki-moon in the United Nations secretary general's election in 2006.

Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin October 16, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

Bu hikaye THE WEEK India dergisinin October 16, 2022 sayısından alınmıştır.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

THE WEEK INDIA DERGISINDEN DAHA FAZLA HIKAYETümünü görüntüle
War Over Wounded Earth
THE WEEK India

War Over Wounded Earth

For the BJP andthe Congress, the ravaged farmlands of Vidarbha represent a cxitieal battleground in their larger struggle to win Maharashtra

time-read
9 dak  |
November 10, 2024
Say no to continual elections
THE WEEK India

Say no to continual elections

Following the recommendations of a high-level committee led by former president Ram Nath Kovind to streamline the widely scattered schedule of national, state and local elections, the Union cabinet has reportedly approved two constitutional amendment bills for likely introduction in Parliament. Predictably, the return of the ‘one nation, one election’ issue to news has set off a flurry of objections by several opposition leaders.

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024
Fabulously, fashionably funny
THE WEEK India

Fabulously, fashionably funny

The third season of the Karan Johar-produced Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives dropped on Netflix, but articles criticising the show appear in some news site or the other almost daily. If it is so bad, why keep writing about it? And if it is so bad, why would the superpowers at Netflix, who are harder to meet than the prime minister, commission the show season after season?

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024
All in the family
THE WEEK India

All in the family

The Chitaras have been passing down the secret art of Mata Ni Pachedi through generations for more than 400 years now

time-read
6 dak  |
November 10, 2024
Raise a toast to Vidya Balan
THE WEEK India

Raise a toast to Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan is a New Year baby. At 45, she is aglow in the most beautiful way, having won the hearts and admiration of countless fans across the world, who watched the supremely talented actor take a public tumble on stage at a high-profile promotional event recently, sharing the platform with no less a dancer than the eternally graceful Madhuri Dixit.

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024
Death no bar
THE WEEK India

Death no bar

Being alive is not a legal requirement to be elected president of the United States

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024
The Lotus POTUS
THE WEEK India

The Lotus POTUS

You should visit us one of these days— there is so much excitement in our USA! No, I don’t mean the famous USA—the Ulhasnagar Sindhi Association of Mumbai.

time-read
3 dak  |
November 10, 2024
RAY OF HOPE
THE WEEK India

RAY OF HOPE

Actor and cancer survivor Lisa Ray talks to oncologist Dr Jame Abraham about inner strength and her surrogacy journey

time-read
5 dak  |
November 10, 2024
LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK
THE WEEK India

LEVERAGE AI TO ENHANCE WORK

AT THE WEEK Health Summit, Siddharth Bagga, head (retail, CPG and health care), Google Cloud, elaborated on the significant work that Google has been doing in health care through artificial intelligence (AI).

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024
PRESSURE POINTS
THE WEEK India

PRESSURE POINTS

Author and MP Shashi Tharoor and motivational speaker Gaur Gopal Das on how to find healing and meaning in today's world

time-read
2 dak  |
November 10, 2024