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The Karnataka story is important and critical for the Kharge factor as the veteran leader has been holding fort in his bastion of Kalaburgi. (Twitter @kharge)
Karnataka is Mallikarjun Kharge’s first big election as Congress president and while there are many who rush in to take credit, Kharge needs this win to show that he can call the shots
In the Congress, the top posts need not mean you win the perception battle. For the 10 years that Dr Manmohan Singh was in his role, he had to battle the perception of being a weak prime minister who was remote-controlled by the Gandhis. This, despite the fact that as prime minister, the 2009 return earned him the ‘Singh is King’ tag with his tough stand on the Indo-US nuke deal.
Today, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge too is facing similar barbs from the BJP and a perception in the party that it is not he but the Gandhis who have the last word. This is why the Karnataka story is important and critical for the Kharge factor as the veteran leader has been holding fort in his bastion of Kalaburagi.
HUMBLE BACKGROUND TO TOP POST
Kharge always had a political instinct though his beginning was anything but political. Kharge, who worked in a theatre while studying law, focused on fighting labour cases. A sports lover, the veteran warhorse has never learnt to give up. Hence, it comes as no surprise that of the 12 elections he has contested, he lost only once.
However, the chief ministerial post from his home state has eluded him — not once but thrice. All three times, the man called ‘Solillada Sardara’ — a warrior who knows no defeat — has had to cede space to SM Krishna, Dharam Singh and Siddaramaiah.
In Karnataka polls, Kharge has been one of the most aggressive faces of the party. In fact, he used his humble origins and Dalit tag to hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When his ‘poisonous snake’ comment was whipped up by the BJP and the prime minister, Kharge was able to crush it effectively and promptly. To the PM’s chai-waala narrative, Kharge hit back by saying that no one would even accept a cup of chai from him.
This is exactly why the state win is important to prove his mettle to the party and critics and to show that he masters over his home state. It’s also his first big election as Congress president and while there are many who rush in to take credit, Kharge needs this win to show that he can call the shots.
As to the critical question about how he feels that he could never become the chief minister, he replies with a smile: “When I can decide who becomes CM, why should I worry?”
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