VIJAYAWADA: Terming the opportunity to contest for the top post in the Congress party unique, senior party leader and presidential candidate of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Mallikarjun Kharge said that he never imagined he would get this chance.
The octogenarian leader visited Andhra Ratna Bhavan, the APCC headquarters, in Vijayawada on Saturday evening to campaign for his election. He promised to implement the party’s Udaipur Declaration in toto and provide 50 per cent of organisational posts in the party to youngsters below 50 years and give due priority to women and suppressed classes. Around 100 Congress party leaders met the veteran politician in the city.
Atrocities against women, dalits surged under BJP govt: Kharge
Addressing the gathering, Kharge said, “Party leaders and cadre asked me to run for the post as Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi decided against contesting the election to be the party president. So, I am here to seek your support.” Elaborating on his achievements, including his election as MLA for nine consecutive times, Kharge said he is running for the top post on behalf of the Congress party to effectively fight against the BJP and RSS.
The veteran leader spoke of how he lost his family to Razakars in Hyderabad when he was young, his experience in Karnataka, and in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. “I decided that organisational work for the party is now paramount,” he said. Hailing the contribution of leaders from Andhra Pradesh to the country, Kharge said the State has also produced some of Congress party’s stalwarts.
He asserted that he would work towards keeping the grand old party’s thought process and ideology alive.
Lambasting at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, Kharge said, “Under Modi, the country is witnessing high inflation. Atrocities against women, Dalits, Minorities have also been on the rise. And at the time of elections, Modi and Shah (Union Minister Amit Shah) resort to polarisation of voters.”
Responding to the BJP describing Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra as Bharat Todo Yatra, the leader said, “It is the saffron party which is creating rifts between people, communities and groups, while Congress is making every effort to unite the country in every aspect.”