No one big or small, all are equal: Mallikarjun Kharge’s first message as AICC president

Kharge won in a landslide against Shashi Tharoor in internal party polls held for the first time in 22 years giving Congress a Dalit President after 50 years.

BySouth First Desk

Published Oct 20, 2022 | 9:35 AM ⚊UpdatedOct 20, 2022 | 9:36 AM

Outgoing AICC Interim President Sonia Gandhi congratulating AICC President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence. (Twitter: INCIndia)

Outgoing AICC Interim President Sonia Gandhi congratulating AICC President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge at his residence. (Twitter: INCIndia)

Half a century of association with the Congress under his belt, Mallikarjun Kharge was elected as president of All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Wednesday, 19 October. The veteran politician from Karnataka will take charge as president of the Congress on 26 October.

With his victory, Kharge made history on several fronts.

Kharge is the first non-Gandhi-Nehru family member to be elected president in 22 years. The first AICC president from the South in 26 years and, more importantly, the first Dalit president of the Congress in more than 50 years.

“Nobody here is big or small. All of us ae equal,” Mallikarjun Kharge said at the press conference he addressed after being declared as president-elect.

While thanking Sonia Gandhi for her long tenure as president, the 80-year-old Kharge spoke of his vision as Congress President to take the party forward, unitedly.

“My wishes to Shashi Tharoor too. We both met and discussed after the poll results. I thanked him for the contest and he thanked me back with a smile,” Kharge said.

Shashi Tharoor released a two-page note earlier on Wednesday congratulating Kharge and wishing to work together.

The mutual courtesy came despite Tharoor’s election team alleging mismanagement in Uttar Pradesh.

“Leak of the letter that my team wrote to CEC was unfortunate. We don’t know where it came from but my election campaign manager was receiving information from all states and some concerns were raised,” Tharoor said, brushing aside the drama.

Related: From hockey team backbone to Congress chief: Kharge’s journey

Kharge’s first appeal as president-elect of AICC was to the people of India and workers of the Congress to join the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Rahul Gandhi.

“Inflation, unemployment, rise in inequalities is what Rahul Gandhi is walking against. I appeal to everyone to join his walk, shoulder to shoulder. He called me today to say he will be a soldier of the Congress,” Kharge added.

Rahul Gandhi, in his interaction with reporters in Andhra Pradesh, reiterated that he would carry out any responsibility that the Congress president gave him.

The Nehru-Gandhi family has been particular about not overstepping on the newly-elected Congress president’s turf. So much so that outgoing president Sonia Gandhi called on Kharge at his residence in New Delhi

Leaders cutting across party lines wish Kharge

Kharge’s stature as a politician admired across party lines was on full display on Wednesday.

From Prime Minister Narendra Modi to former prime minister HD Devegowda to Thol Tirumavalavan reached out to the veteran leader to wish him on his election.

JDS Supremo HD Devegowda deemed Kharge a ‘friend of many decades’.

Even state leaders from Karnataka, cutting across party lines, put up a show of camaraderie to wish Kharge. Former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa, who has had many a bitter battle with Kharge, had good words for him.

Amid his busy schedule of the Jana Spandana Yatra as part of BJP’s outreach program ahead of elections in Karnataka, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, who had torn into the Congress earlier in the day, took to twitter to wish Kharge success.

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