Bellary, Karnataka: He is circling the country every day to reach here Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) rep and is showing no signs of that strain on his 80-year-old self.
It’s not 9 o’clock in Bellary yet, but Mallikarjun Kharge is already in his crisp white dhoti kurta, patiently meeting people while waiting for his breakfast at the new government guest house. On a table in front of them is a list of Congress leaders who they will share the stage with at the massive Bharat Jodi Yatra rally at the Bellary Municipal Ground later in the day.
Outside on the road, enthusiastic Congress workers are already gathering in tempos and trucks with publicity material ahead of the Congress show of strength. What was once its stronghold until that supremacy was challenged by the Reddy brothers – Janardhan and sriramulu – Of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
“My main message as a presidential candidate is that I will focus on restructuring the party and the organisation. The announcement of Udaipur Chintan Shivir is my manifesto. It’s four months old now, so you can’t really say it’s old. There were provisions for 6-7 committees, and the announcements were made by representatives and experts from those fields,” Kharge told ThePrint in an exclusive interview.
He describes himself as a “people’s candidate”, someone who fielded a demand for PCC representatives. So, he says, the response during his campaign has been great. “I’m sponsored by PCC representatives, so the response has been great,” he says.
Rajya Sabha MPs have joined the Bharat Jodi Yatra twice in the past – the first time when it was flagged off from Kanyakumari. on 7 september and then in tumkur When Congress President Sonia Gandhi briefly attended the rally on 9 October, But the Bellary rally will be his first appearance at a meeting with top Congress leaders, who are sure to be the party’s next president. The mining town is lined with publicity material and hoardings welcoming Rahul Gandhi.
‘Congress in Karnataka will benefit from the Yatra’
The response to the visit, Kharge says, has been “excellent”. “Millions gather to hear him” [Rahul], Where else do you get to see so much enthusiasm from the public? Also walking more than 3,500 km is not a joke. Today a third of that is completed – about 1,000 km. You have to understand that the purpose of the journey is not the election. There are no elections in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. It’s about connecting with people. It is a matter of ideology, about protecting the Constitution. Look what the BJP-RSS is doing with the elected governments. It is about promoting unity in the country.”
Stating that the yatra has nothing to do with the election, Kharge is aware that elections will be held in his home state of Karnataka, through which elections will be held. This It’s passing now, it’s going to happen in six months. “It will naturally benefit the Congress in Karnataka, but look at what the Karnataka government is doing,” he said. There is a lot of corruption, there is no law and order. They are creating problems just to polarize them to win votes,” he says.
‘Young, good friend Tharoor’
Congress veterans He has in the past lamented the fact that his request to his rival Shashi Tharoor to go for consensus instead of election in elections did not yield the desired results. But two days after the election, he is in no mood to talk much about Tharoor.
About the 66-year-old Lok Sabha MP, he says, “He is my young, good friend. “It’s not like it’s a US presidential election or a general election. This is our own friendly fight, within the family,” he says.
A few days back, her pictures while traveling on a chartered flight had created quite a stir. Kharge is dismissed. “Everybody uses them. Anyway we have been traveling mostly on commercial flights. It is only when a destination is not easily available that we have used chartered flights,” he says.
(Edited by Tony Rae)
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