If Satisfied With Party's Working, Vote For Kharge: Shashi Tharoor

Shashi Tharoor said that if party leaders and members are "satisfied" with how the party is "working," they should support his opponent, Mallikarjun Kharge.

Tharoor emphasised that the choice should be made by the Congress workers and that the race between him and Kharge is "not a battle."

Source : PTI File Photo

New Delhi: Congress party leader Shashi Tharoor drew an analogy between the Gandhi family and the party's DNA on Saturday, asserting that no party chief could separate himself from the Gandhi family. He also claimed that the reason he is running for president of the party is to bring "change" in the grand old party.

No matter who is elected Congress president following the party's internal elections on October 17, he cannot be "such a fool" to tell "goodbye" to the Gandhi family, Tharoor said, calling the family a valuable asset to Congress. While speaking to ANI before embarking on his visit to several parts of the nation to campaign for the party polls, Tharoor said, "Gandhi family and Congress' DNA is the same...No (party) president is such a fool to tell 'Goodbye' to Gandhi family. They are a huge asset to us".

Within 24 hours of submitting his nomination at the AICC office in the nation's capital on Friday, the Congress leader reiterated that he represents a "change" within the party. He also said that if party leaders and members are "satisfied" with how the party is "working," they should support his opponent, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is running for the party's top position. Tharoor emphasised that the choice should be made by the Congress workers and that the race between him and Kharge is "not a battle."

He said, "This isn't a battle...Let party workers choose, that's our message. I'm saying that if you're satisfied with the party's working, vote for Kharge sahab. If you want a change, I'm there. But there's no ideological problem. There will not be any change in the message of the Congress party."

Tharoor emphasised the need of granting authority to the lower levels of the organisation to make choices, noting that all decisions within the party are made by the Central Leadership. Notably, Tharoor stressed the necessity for "decentralisation" in the party in the manifesto he issued shortly after submitting his nomination. He stated that his choice to compete for the party's top position was supported by the party workers and that he wanted to enter the race as soon as the election was declared.