Sonia Gandhi to release book on Kharge on Nov 29 to mark one year as Congress chief

New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi will release a book on five decades of Mallikarjun Kharge’s public life to mark one year in office on November 29. The book edited by Sukhadev Thorat and Chetan Shinde focuses on the five decades of Kharge’s political engagement and his politics of social justice and inclusion.

Kharge was elected to the top party post on October 19, 2022, defeating his rival Shashi Tharoor in internal polls in which over 9,000 delegates from across the country voted. He took charge of the office on October 26. The transition had generated a lot of speculation in the grand old party, which was getting a non-Gandhi party chief after a gap of 24 years, but Kharge’s first year in office has been quite eventful, say party leaders.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who will complete one year as the first non-Gandhi president in 24 years on October 19, has played the role successfully, party leaders said on Wednesday. The Congress had its last non-Gandhi president in 1996 when Sitaram Kesri was elected to the top party post defeating Sharad Pawar and Rajesh Pilot.

“It is a very rich political life. Being in politics for five decades is a big achievement. He has fought at least 10 elections and lost only once. He picked up people’s issues all along and is still working on the same theme,” AICC functionary Manish Chatrath told ETV Bharat. “Kharge has a lot of energy. He addressed 25 public meetings in Karnataka polls and has campaigned actively across five state polls recently. He is still busy with Telangana,” he said.

According to the AICC functionary, Kharge’s first year as party chief has seen many pluses. “He has an understanding of the party. He has been on various party panels and knows the organisation very well. His experience is an asset to the party. He has also united the opposition parties. The Rahul, Kharge leadership combo is doing good for the party and will bring good results. Besides, Sonia Gandhi regards Kharge and has given him full space to steer the party,” said Chatrath, a permanent invitee to the CWC.

According to party insiders, over the past year, Kharge reconstituted the Congress Working Committee, made several changes in the organisation, won the Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka Assembly polls last year, supervised Rahul Gandhi’s nationwide Bharat Jodo Yatra and played a key role in the formation of the INDIA alliance to take on the BJP in 2024.

According to another permanent invitee to the CWC Girish Chodankar, “Kharge struggled in early life to join active politics. The very fact that he could retain the confidence of voters and get elected as an MLA repeatedly shows his commitment to public life. Also to continue in the same party for 50 years sends a message. ” “He inspires leaders from all states and is neutral. The party got stability under him as president and the Gandhis, too, have given him a free hand to make decisions. There has been no controversy around him and he has brought several rival leaders to work together in states,” Chodankar told ETV Bharat.