Poor man like me could have a successful, long political career only because of Congress: AICC President Kharge

Kharge took on the mantle of AICC President last year after winning an internal party election where he was pitted against MP Shashi Tharoor.

ByPTI

Published Apr 15, 2023 | 1:45 PMUpdatedApr 15, 2023 | 1:45 PM

AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at the BJP and BRS for not keeping to their promises. (Twiiter)

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that because of his party, a person like him from a humble background could have a long political career and become an MLA and MP for multiple terms.

Kharge, who addressed a “Jai Bharat Satyagraha Sabha” at Mancherial in Telangana on Friday night, 14 April, said that he would not have been a lawmaker had late prime minister Indira Gandhi and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi not encouraged a “poor man” like him.

He said that Sonia Gandhi “gave him” an opportunity to work as the president of the Congress, which is a huge responsibility.

Kharge took on the mantle of AICC President in October last year, after being elected the party chief in an internal party election where he was pitted against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. Kharge is the party’s first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.

Also Read: Kharge slams Modi, Amit Shah and calls bandh against corruption

Duality in the rules

Hitting out at the BJP government at the Centre, he claimed that while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was given notice and disqualified from the Lok Sabha within 24 hours of his conviction in the 2019 defamation case, a BJP MP from Gujarat was not disqualified despite being convicted in a criminal case.

Kharge, however, did not name the MP from Gujarat.

The Congress chief also accused the Narendra Modi-led government of weakening the public sector and not creating crores of jobs as promised.

Also Read: With BJP winning in Kalaburagi mayor poll, Modi takes a dig at Kharge

Standing up for Dalits

He also targeted the BRS government in Telangana, accusing it of not fulfilling its promises, including providing three acres of land to Dalit families.

Hailing the contributions of Dr BR Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, Kharge said that it was because of the architect of the Constitution that Dalits and women got voting rights.

(Disclaimer: The headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed, and has been edited for style.)