HAND IN HAND

Mallikarjun Kharge is the unifier the Congress and the larger opposition require

- SONI MISHRA

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has a patriarch-like presence in his party’s Karnataka election campaign. The 80-year-old is leading from the front and has burnt the midnight oil—recently, there were visuals of him and other party leaders coming out of his Delhi residence after a meeting at 2am. Asked about this, he laughed and said that his office usually works late, but added it does not mean work does not start early. “As Congress president, I wanted to make sure that I am not found wanting,” he told THE WEEK. “I wanted the election committee, campaign committee and candidates’ names announced well ahead of time so that the candidates got ample time to campaign.”

It has been six months since Kharge was elected Congress president—he is the first non-Gandhi to occupy the post in two decades, the second dalit to do so after Jagjivan Ram, the second from Karnataka and the sixth from south India.

And it is the southern face-off between the Congress and the ruling BJP in Karnataka that would set the tone for the coming election season. The two parties will be in direct contest in the Hindi heartland states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and later in the Lok Sabha elections next year.

In Karnataka, said state Congress leaders, Kharge has a calming effect on a state unit brimming with chief minister aspirants. It is believed that his presence has kept the various factions under check and has soothed nerves. He has also talked disgruntled leaders out of any plans of contesting against the party’s official candidates. Sources close to him, however, insisted that he had not micromanaged the election as he believes in collective decision-making and respects the role assigned to various leaders.