Kharge has to hit the ground running to put Congress back on track 

NEW DELHI: As Mallikarjun Kharge takes over as the new chief of the Congress, the road ahead for him is not an easy one, say political observers. The 80-year-old veteran has got elevated to the top post at a time when the party is at its historic low in terms of electoral performance and internal strife.

The immediate challenge before Kharge as the new Congress president will be steering the party in the Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections, which are a few months away. In 2023, Kharge will face nine state elections, including Karnataka, Telangana, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. Another big challenge for Kharge will be setting the tone for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and fighting the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) behemoth in a direct contest in several states. 

Political analysts say that Kharge has to hit the ground running. Analysts also point out that it’s going to be a Himalayan task for him to revive the party, which is in a morass for the past many years. Terming the Congress presidential election as a positive move, political commentator Smita Gupta says that the immediate challenge for Kharge is to bring a certain amount of stability to the party.“Kharge needs to get a new team and have an elected Working Committee because in its absence, we are back to where we started,” she says.

To get the party poll-ready, there should be a division of labour between Kharge and Gandhis, she says. “We know that the Gandhis are not going away as Congress members still rely on them. Rahul Gandhi was able to generate an extremely positive response from people during his Bharat Jodo yatra and he should build on this. He should be the leader who goes out and gets the votes while the day-to-day management and party reforms should be left to Kharge,” she says. 

Another challenge will be to infuse energy into the cadre, and shed the image that he will be a remote-controlled chief, say, observers. Political analyst and former Congress spokesperson Sanjay Jha says he made the right noises by pledging to fight the BJP. “The party needs to motivate the youth. It has a lot of talent and he needs to ensure a good blend. If the party can create a platform where a candidate can take on the BJP, then I think we will have a good start,” said Jha.