Mallikarjun Kharge faces multiple challenges in new role as Congress chief

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (80) will the new President of the Congress after an electoral college of 9,385 voters elected him: he got 7,897 votes, leaving the only other rival, Shashi Tharoor far behind (1,072) votes, with 416 votes declared invalid. He is the first non-Gandhi president of the party in more than 20 years.

Many had predicted Kharge’s victory, but party MP Rahul Gandhi, currently on a padayatra in Andhra Pradesh, clearly expected Kharge to win, not Tharoor. During an interaction with reporters, Gandhi said his role in the party will be decided by the new president, adding to another question:  “It is for Kharge to decide”. As the result of the contest had not been declared at the time of the press conference, he quickly corrected himself to say: “Whoever gets elected, that gentleman will decide.”

Gandhi said the Congress president was the “supreme authority’ in the Congress and whoever got elected to the post would decide on the way forward (for the party). He also said the new president would decide on ”what my role and how I will be deployed”.

”Obviously,” Rahul replied when asked if he would be reporting to the new president.

”President is the supreme authority in the Congress and everyone reports to him. My role -- I am very clear – the Congress president will decide what my role is and how I will be deployed,” he observed.

The election was not without controversy. Tharoor’s election managers charged the election committee of the party with “extremely serious irregularities" in the conduct of the election in Uttar Pradesh and demanded that all votes from the state be deemed invalid. The same charge was made about Punjab and Telangana. In a letter to Central Election Authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry, Tharoor's chief election agent Salman Soz said the facts are "damning" and the election process in Uttar Pradesh is "devoid of credibility and integrity". "We would like to underline that we have no evidence that Mallikarjun Kharge ji was aware of how his supporters were engaging in electoral malpractice in Uttar Pradesh. We are certain that if he was aware, he would never allow what happened in Uttar Pradesh," Soz said in his letter.

Former Congress spokesman Sanjay Jha said there was some evidence the election was not free and fair. “The fact that Kharge got 88 per cent of the vote is proof that this Congress President election was indeed having High Command blessings. No further comment is needed” he said.

However, after the results had been announced, Tharoor met Kharge and said he would work closely with the new president. Kharge reciprocated with similar sentiments. Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi was among the first to call on him and offer support.

Challenges before Kharge are many. Not only will he have to ensure elections are held to the rest of the Congress organization including the crucial working committee, but also draw up a plan that ensures the party performs better in upcoming elections, including Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat and 11 others through 2023. He will also have to oversee the revamp of the state units of the party, another difficult exercise. How much he will accept to be guided by the Gandhi family is the central issue in his presidentship.