On 13th October 2022, Shashi Tharoor, a candidate for the post of Congress president, claimed that he has been treated differently by party officials than his rival Mallikarjun Kharge. Notably, the campaign for the position of Congress President pits Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge against one another.
Addressing a press conference, Shashi Tharoor said, “We are contesting elections. There is no spirit of enmity in our party. Kharge Sahab is my senior leader and I have worked closely with him. The election is about two colleagues seeing how to work to strengthen the party.”
Clarifying more on his ‘uneven playing field’ remark, Shashi Tharoor said, “In several PCCs, leaders welcomed and met Kharge Sahab. The same was not done for me. I visited PCCs but PCC chiefs were not available. I am not complaining, but do you not see a difference in treatment?” He advised his party members to support him only if they want to see a change in Congress.
Shashi Tharoor said, “Do you want the party to go with change or are you satisfied with everything? If you think everything is fine, do not vote for me as I want such a change in the party that would bring back voters who did not remain with us in 2014 and 2019.”
In an effort to resurrect the party’s prominence in the nation, Shashi Tharoor said earlier this week that he might serve as a catalyst of change for the organisation. Tharoor said, “Some people are saying Kharge is an official candidate and I am no one. But I want to say that the Gandhi family is unbiased and no one is an official candidate as we are standing for strengthening of the Congress party. If someone is saying that delegates are asked to vote for a certain person, it is not true.”
When asked about the speculations after Shashi Tharoor’s remarks, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “See, this is an attempt to spark a fight between us. We are brothers, we work for the same party. Someone can speak in a different manner. I can do it in a different manner. So there are no differences between us. He is like a family member.”
Kharge further said, “I don’t have a complaining nature. Rather, I and Tharoor both are meant to jointly complain to the Prime Minister and Shah about inflation, unemployment, rupee falling down. We both are expected to jointly fight on the issues affecting the people. And we should take everyone along. That is important. Delegates asked me to contest the election. Now it is their responsibility to make me win.”
Earlier on Tuesday, 11th October 2022, senior leader and Congress president aspirant Shashi Tharoor claimed that several party leaders had asked Rahul Gandhi to make Tharoor withdraw his candidature. Now he has come up with a new theory of unequal playgrounds for the two contestants.
