Mallikarjun Kharge completes his state tours, but skips Rajasthan, Karnataka

BENGALURU: Mallikarjun Kharge from Karnataka, contesting the Congress presidential election, on Friday completed the last leg of his state visits in Bhubaneswar, where he met PCC leaders of Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. He was accompanied by Ramesh Chennithala, a senior leader from Kerala, the home state of Shashi Tharoor, the other contestant in the poll.

Chennithala, who has been with Kharge throughout his visits to the states, said, “Kharge started out as a block president and has served as district and state president. He has been elected a record nine times. He was also a railway minister and Union labour minister, working for the betterment of the poor.’’

Kharge has addressed almost all PCC leaders and delegates, except in Rajasthan and Karnataka. On Friday, he said he will put into practice the decisions taken at the party’s Udaipur Chintan Shivir.
Over the last few days, Kharge has met leaders from Northeastern states, Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.

KPCC president DK Shivakumar told TNIE, “The election is on October 17 and we will all cast our vote. Congress believes in democracy that is why we are holding a poll to choose our leader.’’ Other party leaders said Kharge’s win is a foregone conclusion. “We like him to win with a large margin, nothing but a landslide.”

If elected, Kharge will be the second All-India Congress Committee president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa, who was picked in 1969. But this is the first time ever that a leader from Karnataka is contesting the poll as Congress has had only four Congress presidential elections in its 137-year, and this is the fifth poll. The first was when Subhas Chandra Bose won against Pattabhisitaramaiah.

AICC PRESIDENT ELECTION
2nd poll: J Kripalani vs PD Tandon. Tandon won.
3d poll: Sitaram Kesari, Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot contested. Kesari won
4th poll:  Sonia Gandhi vs Jitendra Prasada.
Sonia won.