MyVoice: Views of our readers 21st October 2022

Gandhis must give Kharge free hand

The election of Kharge is more crucial as he is elected when the party is not in power at the Centre and at a time it is facing debacle in every successive elections. Now the 137-year-old party is in power only two states - Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan. Surprisingly, the new president has to resolve the crisis in Rajasthan is his first task where the fight for upper hand is persisting between Gehlot and Sachin Pilot before. Next, he has to design new strategy to arrest the declining trend of the party in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat Assembly elections. He also puts his best efforts to remove the group politics in various state units. Under these circumstances, the Gandhi family must give free hand to Kharge and ensure there should not be any coterie to undermine his position.

Pratapa Reddy Y, Tiruvuru, AP

The winning of veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge was on the expected lines. He is a loyalist of the Nehru family. He has to revive the party and prepare for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections to take on the BJP. A tough job, indeed is given to him at this point in time. He is aged. Earlier Dr Manmohan Singh was selected to head the coalition government. He was more a dummy man. He was the proxy of the Nehru family and was remote-controlled. How Kharge works is to be seen since 2024 is not so far.

N R Ramachandran, Chennai

After more than 20 years, Congress has got its non-Gandhi president. Indeed, Mallikarjun Kharge is the most senior, experienced, and renowned leader in the Congress party, who hails from the Dalit community. With his clean image and largely not having "Gandhi" as his last name, the party is trying to present itself as a non-Gandhi party. And, his selection for the party chief at this juncture might serve well for the Congress party in the upcoming Karnataka state assembly polls where, it seems, the party will give a neck-to-neck fight to the ruling BJP government. Karnataka has more than 100 Schedule cast communities, which constituted 15% of the total voters. And, promoting a Dalit at the helm of a more-than 100 years old party will surely cast an impact in the polls.

Jayesh Khasgiwale, Ujjain

The election of Kharge as AICC President will greatly blunt the criticism against the Congress as a dynastic party and to that extent the ammunition in the armour of Modi stands depleted. The BJP bigwigs have to think twice before shooting off their mouths as Kharge is a senior Dalit leader with proven track record of merit and loyalty. As far as control of reins by single individuals is concerned, all parties are in the same boat: BJP - Modi; Congress - Gandhis; Trinamool - Mamata Benarjee; DMK- Stalin; BRS - KCR; TDP - Naidu; YSRCP - Jagan; Janasena - Pawan Kalyan. The Communist parties are an exception and perhaps it explains the disarray in the party. In Maharashtra, the Shinde government is under remote control of BJP. This is the strange democracy we have in India.

Vinay Bhushan Bhagwaty, Hyderabad

The choice of Kharge is a political move by Congress to counter the BJP's decision to elect a tribal as the President of India. The Congress organisational election has already brought the party back into the limelight. Now, Kharge needs to show his mettle to prove that he is no more a "puppet president" as largely speculated. With Himachal and Gujarat elections around the corner, he has immediate room to prove the sceptics wrong. So, Kharge should hit the ground running. Odd as it seems Kharge, could possibly meet the same fate as Kesri– that is to make way for someone from the Nehru-Gandhi family to take over at an appropriate time.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

The editorial rightly deliberating on the pros and cons of a non-Gandhi elected as president of the party makes it clear that the new president Kharge may not have an easy ride during his tenure. Though Kharge has a good electoral record and a solid base in his home state Karnataka which may help him sail easily in the south, the much bigger tough task and challenges to counter lies in North, especially UP, Bihar, Rajasthan and MP. How he would encounter effectively hinges depends on his credibility and engagement with member group. Unless changes happen through elections from the local to state levels, no perceptible change in the party can be seen in the days to come.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad