JOIN USMallikarjun Kharge shines in Congress victory in Karnataka
The real victor of Karnataka assembly polls is Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. While this formulation does not take away any credit from Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, and the rest of the state Congress stalwarts, Kharge’s presence, patience, campaign, mentoring, and quick thinking greatly benefited the grand old party. When penning this article, the Congress’ lead in the 224-seat assembly is about 120.
The AICC chief did not step out of his home state for 26 days, since Ambedkar Jayanti on April 14. Party officials had reported that they’d often see the octogenarian work late into the nights. Kharge, a seasoned campaigner, led from the front embarking upon back-breaking tours and endless strategy sessions.
As a result of astute planning and political manoeuvring, the Congress, for the first time in decades, managed to release its first list of party nominees 45 days before the polls. It is worth mentioning here that many AICC panels and working groups in the past — led by AK Antony, K Karunakaran, PA Sangma, Veerappa Moily, Sam Pitroda, Digvijaya Singh, and others — had periodically underlined the need for early selection of party nominees. The long tenure of Sonia Gandhi as party president between 1998 to 2017 and again from 2019-2022 saw this recommendation getting accepted, but never implemented. Kharge, who took over as 88th President of the AICC, managed to get it implemented within six months of assuming office.
As Congress President, Kharge had many more daunting tasks. Quelling dissent during the ticket distribution saw a high degree of fairness, impartiality, and logical reasoning. Every time the central leadership or the state satraps had a difference of opinion over a particular constituency or candidate, Kharge encouraged a professional approach requesting the stakeholders to marshal arguments for or against, instead of emotional outbursts or behind-the-scene machinations. This helped in reducing the number of rebels this time around.
Kharge, in his own style, managed to bring everyone on board. He was greatly helped by the Gandhi trio of Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi. Kharge made a judicious use of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in quelling internal disquiet which otherwise could have flared up.
Kharge, Siddaramaiah, and Shivakumar worked as a team, sinking differences that have a long and chequered history. Sources close to Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar insist that Kharge's ability to move from a leader from Karnataka to a party patriarch has been swift and large-hearted. Kharge also worked closely with the AICC general secretary-in-charge of Karnataka, Randeep Singh Surjewala. It is said that Surjewala was instrumental in inserting the Bajrang Dal's name in the Congress’ manifesto promising a ban when most of his party colleagues viewed it bit dangerous, as well as reckless. But the gamble somewhat paid off, in consolidating certain section of voters, particularly in the traditional JD(S) strongholds. For the puritans, it showcased the Congress as a party sticking to its core ideology and taking a stand in an atmosphere engulfed by a sense of majoritarianism. For Kharge, the deliberations at the Udaipur Chintan Shivar came handy where most of the leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, had advocated the party taking its own, time tested line of negating religion from politics instead of getting bogged down by pressure groups.
Kharge's future looks far more stable and rewarding based on the Congress’ performance in the Karnataka polls. Incidentally, he would be the first Congress President from the days of Indira Gandhi to have registered electoral victory in their home state. While Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao had fretted away power during their presidentship, in the home states of Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh, Sitaram Kesri (Bihar) Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi (Uttar Pradesh) could never dream of winning an assembly election in their home state.
(Rasheed Kidwai is an author and journalist)
(Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH)