Mallikarjun Kharge to keep away from Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka to ‘maintain neutrality’

Mallikarjun Kharge might be the senior-most Congress leader from Karnataka, but he has been conspicuous in his absence in the Bharat Jodo Yatra that is travelling through the state. Kharge has not walked even a metre, or joined Sonia Gandhi when she participated in the yatra in Mandya’s Pandavapura, and is unlikely to be in Bellary on October 15 when the party will hold a rally.

Sources said Kharge, a contestant for the election to become party president, was advised at the insistence of Rahul Gandhi, to keep away from the yatra in Karnataka as his presence could vitiate the atmosphere ahead of the organisational election; it could be construed as a tacit support from the Gandhi family for the veteran.

A senior leader said Kharge has “deliberately” not joined the yatra on the instructions of Rahul, though he has every right to be part of the programme—he is a Congress leader from the state who is even senior to state president D K Shivakumar and Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah.

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The Gandhi family has made it clear that they will remain neutral in the electoral battle between Kharge and Shashi Tharoor for the party’s top post. Kharge is already perceived as the “unofficial official candidate”, with the backing of the Gandhis and other senior leaders, as was evident during his filing of nominations.

The leader also said the Gandhis did not want to give the impression that they were supporting either of the candidates. “Kharge was in Mandya when Sonia-ji joined the yatra. But he did not join the yatra. Sometimes there is no need to tell explicitly. Kharge was conveyed a message and he also knew that was the right thing to do,” the Congress leader said.

Tharoor, on the other hand, had joined the yatra twice in Kerala—once in his constituency Thiruvananthapuram, and later in his hometown Palakkad. However, that was before he had filed his nomination, though it was known that he was likely to contest.