Congress media communications-in-charge Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday issued a clarification to growing criticisms over Rahul Gandhi’s reference to Mallikarjun Kharge as Congress president, even before the election results came out. Slamming “erroneous media reports”, Ramesh said that the “direction of voting was quite clear” before Gandhi’s address. Ramesh took to Twitter and wrote, “There have been erroneous media reports that Rahul Gandhi announced Kharge-ji as Congress President during his press meet that began at Adoni at around 1pm. The fact is that the direction of voting was quite clear before the press meet began.”
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On the sidelines of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Andhra Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi was asked about his role, while the counting was underway. Gandhi replied, “…My role… I am very clear…Congress president will decide what my role is and how I will be deployed.. Ask Kharge ji.” Gandhi was addressing the press at around 1:30 pm on Wednesday, and the results were declared after 2 pm.
“I can’t comment on the Congress president’s role, that’s for Mr Kharge to comment on,” Rahul Gandhi said when asked about the new president’s role. When Gandhi was asked if he would report to the new Congress chief, he replied, “Obviously.”
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Kharge on Wednesday registered a landslide victory over his opponent Shashi Tharoor and became the first non-Gandhi president of the party in the last 24 years. In the run-up to the elections, Tharoor had told The Indian Express that the same leaders and PCC delegates, who had welcomed Kharge, had decided not to answer his calls. After the results were declared, Tharoor said that Kharge had the support of the Congress leadership. Replying to his polling agent Salman Soz’s letter alleging election fraud, Tharoor told the media, “It was not the first letter of violation that was sent, it was the last letter. I am not aware if any actions were taken…We never doubted the good faith of the party leadership or the election authority wanting to have a free and fair election. By and large, the leadership backed Mr Kharge. That is not surprising. If you have a choice between change and continuity, why would you want to change?”
