Page 48 - Mallikarjun Kharge

Clear from beginning that Cong establishment will choose Kharge: Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor who lost to Mallikarjun Kharge in the Congress presidential election said that it was clear from the beginning that the party's establishment would rally behind his opponent

Mistry slams Tharoor over allegations of 'irregularities' in Cong prez poll

Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry on Thursday accused Shashi Tharoor's team of having two faces -- one for the party's poll body and another for the media -- as he rejected allegations of irregularities during the just-concluded AICC presidential poll, according to sources. In his response to Team Tharoor's letter in which "extremely serious irregularities" were flagged in the conduct of the election in Uttar Pradesh, Mistry said the poll body satisfied the candidate on every complaint but despite that he raised all those points in the media before bringing them to "our notice". "I am sorry to say that you had one face before me which communicated that you're satisfied with all our answers and action and different face in the media which made all these allegations against us," Mistry said in his letter to Tharoor's chief election agent Salman Soz, according to sources. The campaign team of Tharoor, who lost the party's presidential polls to Mallikarjun .

Congress making Dalits 'scapegoats': Mayawati after Kharge's election

A day after Mallikarjun Kharge was elected the Congress president, BSP chief Mayawati on Thursday accused the 137-year-old party of remembering Dalits only in its bad times and making them "scapegoats". Kharge (80), a Dalit leader from Karnataka, trounced his 66-year-old rival Shashi Tharoor in a historic election held four days ago to become the first non-Gandhi to head the Congress in 24 years. In a series of tweets, Mayawati said, "The history of the Congress is a witness that it has always neglected/disdained the messiah of the downtrodden Param Pujya Babasaheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar and his society. This party does not remember the safety and honour of Dalits in its good days, but makes them a scapegoat in bad days." "The Congress party remembers mostly non-Dalits in the long run of good days and puts Dalits in front in their bad days as in the current times. Is this not deceit and pseudo politics? People ask, 'Is this the real love of the Congress towards Dalits'?" she said in .

Mallikarjun Kharge: Some lesser known facts about Congress' 98th president

Interim president Sonia Gandhi met Kharge today and congratulated him for winning the elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also extended his wishes to Kharge

Best of BS Opinion: Pricing pressure, Congress votes for status quo, & more

Here is the best of Business Standard's opinion pieces for today

A missed opportunity: Congress votes for status quo

Mallikarjun Kharge's election as party president points to the continuation of Gandhi family hegemony with all its opacity and confusions ever since Rahul Gandhi stepped down as president in 2019

Mallikarjun Kharge faces multiple challenges in new role as Congress chief

He is the first non-Gandhi president of the party in more than 20 years

Will Kharge be a rubber stamp or a connect between party and family?

Kharge began life as a trade union lawyer and knows what it is to struggle

Shashi Tharoor: Lost Cong prez poll but not before making himself heard

He lost the election but Shashi Tharoor managed to score many a political point during his campaign for Congress president, a contest he lost to veteran party colleague Mallikarjun Kharge who was favoured to win. The author, wordsmith, former UN diplomat and social media pioneer with 8.3 million followers on Twitter demonstrated during the last few weeks that he is quite the opposite of a quockerwodger', a politically loaded term for a wooden puppet he introduced into our lexicon, and is instead independent minded, making moves on his own terms. Tharoor's loss is reminiscent of his electoral run in the 2006 UN secretary general poll in which he was defeated by South Korea's Ban Ki-moon but not before creating a strong buzz. It was in that contest perhaps that he first displayed his stomach for an electoral fight against daunting odds. That the often outspoken Tharoor managed 1,072 votes against perceived Gandhi favourite Kharge's 7,897 in the presidential election, only the sixth i

LIVE: CCI imposes Rs 169-cr penalty on OYO for 'anti-competitive conduct'

From Congress presidential elections to coronavirus cases and more, catch all the latest developments from across the globe here

Congress presidential polls energised cadre to face BJP: Shashi Tharoor

The Congress presidential election has energised party workers to take on the challenge the BJP poses in upcoming elections, Shashi Tharoor, who lost the poll to Mallikarjun Kharge, said on Wednesday. Tharoor told a press conference here he was never a candidate of dissent, but for change. Kharge's victory was a victory of the Congress, he said, adding the party's presidential election was to strengthen the organisation. "This augurs well for the Congress. We will move forward from here. Our workers have been energised to take on the challenge posed by the BJP and I am also confident that our party will display its strength," said Tharoor, who got 1,072 votes against Kharge's 7,897. "This is not an issue about an individual. I only wish that the party is strengthened. For a stronger India, you need a stronger Congress," he said. Tharoor expressed hope Kharge will implement the provisions of the Congress constitution that mandates election to the Congress Working Committee.

We have to fight together against fascist forces: Kharge urges Cong workers

Congress president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said no one in the party is big or small and he will work as a true Congress soldier to strengthen the organisation. Addressing a press conference soon after he was declared elected as the party's president, Kharge said for him every Congress worker is equal and all have to work together to fight the fascists forces threatening democracy and the Constitution. No one is big or small and all have to work together as karyakartas to strengthen the Congress, he said. "We have to together fight the threat to democracy and the Constitution," Kharge said. He will formally take over as the party's president on October 26.

Sonia Gandhi visits Kharge, congratulates him on winning Cong prez poll

Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday visited veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge's residence and congratulated him on winning the party presidential poll with a huge margin

Shashi Tharoor calls on Mallikarjun Kharge after Cong prez poll results

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor called on party president-elect Mallikarjun Kharge after losing to him in the battle for the top post, and offered his full cooperation going forward. Kharge was on Wednesday elected the Congress president after defeating Tharoor in the electoral contest, the sixth in the party's 137-year-old history. Kharge got 7,897 votes and Shashi Tharoor 1,072 votes, while 416 votes were declared invalid. "Called on our new President-elect Mallikarjun Kharge to congratulate him & offer him my full co-operation. Congress has been strengthened by our contest," Tharoor tweeted along with pictures of his meeting with Kharge. In one of the pictures, he held Kharge's arm aloft with Congress MP Karti Chidambaram also in the photograph.

Revival of Congress has truly begun today: Tharoor after conceding defeat

As Mallikarjun Kharge won the Congress president poll, his electoral rival Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday said the "democratic contest" has galvanised vibrancy at all levels and has prompted a healthy and constructive discussion on change, which will serve the party in good stead in the future. Tharoor also claimed that the Congress' revival has begun. In a statement, Tharoor said the Nehru-Gandhi family has held, and will always hold, a special place in the hearts of Congress party members. "It is my hope and belief that the family will remain the foundational pillar of the Congress, our moral conscience and ultimate guiding spirit. In particular, the spectacular success of the ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra is a testament to the family's enduring appeal to the masses," said the MP from Kerala who got 1,072 votes against Kharge's 7,897. He said that in a true celebration of inner-party democracy, over 9,500 delegates of the Congress cast their vote in the elections for the post of party .

Cong chief-elect Kharge represents a 'democratic vision' of India: Rahul

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday congratulated Mallikarjun Kharge on being elected as the new party chief and said he represents a "democratic vision" of India. "Congratulations to Mallikarjun Kharge ji on being elected as the President of Congress. "The Congress President represents a democratic vision of India. His vast experience and ideological commitment will serve the party well as he takes on this historic responsibility," Gandhi said on Twitter. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also congratulated Kharge and said his vast experience will help strengthen the party. "I am confident that your ground experience in political life will help strengthen the ideology of the Congress," she said in a tweet in Hindi. "Under your leadership, the Congress will continue to fight to protect the Constitution and democracy," she added. Vadra visited Kharge's residence along with outgoing Congress chief Sonia Gandhi to congratulate him. Kharge's wife was a

Mallikarjun Kharge becomes first non-Gandhi Congress President in 24 years

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge, a staunch Gandhi family loyalist from Karnataka, has become the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years. The 80-year-old leader succeeds Sonia Gandhi at the grand old party's highest office. Kharge defeated Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor in the October 17 Congress' Presidential polls, which saw over 9,500 delegates across the country voting. A leader with more than 50 years of experience in politics, he is also the second AICC President from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and also second Dalit leader after Jagjivan Ram to hold the post. Kharge was elected MLA for nine times in a row, seeing a steady rise in his career graph from humble beginnings as a union leader in his home district of Gulbarga (renamed as Kalaburagi). He joined the party in 1969 and went on to become President of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee. That Kharge was unconquerable at the hustings was mirrored until 2014 Lok Sabha polls in which h

Acharya Kripalani to Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress presidents since 1947

The Indian National Congress was formed by British civil servant Allan Octavian Hume in 1885. Take a look at the presidents the grand old party has seen since Independence >

Meet Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress party's new President

Mallikarjun Kharge won the Congress presidential elections by landslide margin over Shashi Tharoor. Kharge got 7,897 votes while Tharoor got 1,072 votes. 416 votes were invalid.

Kharge vs Tharoor: Counting of votes begins for Congress Presidential polls

Counting of votes began on Monday in the Congress presidential polls in which senior leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor faced-off for the post of AICC chief. The counting of the votes cast on Monday began at 10 am at the AICC headquarters here. All sealed ballot boxes from the 68 polling booths set up across the country had been brought here by Tuesday evening and kept in a "strong room" at the party office. The counting agents of Kharge are Pramod Tiwari, Kodikunil Suresh, Gaurav Gogoi, Syed Nasir Hussain, Kuljit Singh Bagra and Gurdeep Singh Sappal. Karti Chidambaram, Atul Chaturvedi and Sumedh Gaikwal are among those who are counting agents of Tharoor. While Kharge is considered the firm favourite with his perceived proximity to the Gandhis and a large number of senior leaders backing him, Tharoor has pitched himself as the candidate of change. Congress central election authority chairman Madhusudan Mistry has expressed satisfaction with the party's presidential pol