New Delhi (TIP)-Senior Congress leader Manish Tewari feels the party leader and top contender for the Congress presidential poll, Mallikarjun Kharge, can provide the stability that Congress needs.

Speaking on the G23 leaders supporting Kharge instead of Shashi Tharoor for election of Congress presidential post, Tewari said, “Kharge has spent several years, has grown from the lowest posts in the party. Congress needs stability which I feel Kharge can provide… “

Shashi Tharoor, a few days back, lamented that some leaders are openly backing his rival Mallikarjun Kharge for the Congress president post. Tharoor had called the ‘playing field’ uneven after several PCC chiefs and senior leaders were not available for a meeting with him during his visits to their respective states, but they warmed up to Kharge when he visited them for support.

However, Kharge then reiterated that there is no bad blood between the candidates and that they are “like brothers.” Kharge, 80, is being seen as a favourite or the “unofficial official candidate” for the top party post because of his perceived proximity to the Gandhi family.

The Congress presidential poll will take place on October 17, and the results will be out on October 19.

Don’t compare me with Tharoor, says Mallikarjun Kharge

When asked about Shashi Tharoor’s plan to “decentralise authority” in the Congress, senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge said he does not want the two of them to be compared. Kharge and Tharoor are in the race to become the next Congress president.

In an exclusive interview with India Today, he made an appeal to not compare him with Tharoor. Speaking on Tharoor’s manifesto to “reform the way the party functions”, he said, “I have come on my own from block president to this level. Was Shashi Tharoor there during that time?” He added that Tharoor is free to go ahead with his manifesto but his agenda is to implement the decisions taken in the Udaipur declaration. The declaration that was adopted by the party in May pays focus to three fields — public insight, election management and national training.

                Source: India Today