Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Aug 12: Political pundits have analysed that veteran Congress leader from Karnataka, Mallikarjun Kharge, lost in the race for the post of the party president because of differences within the party. Kharge would have emerged as an ideal choice, considering his long experience, sincerity to the party, and also because he hails from Dalit community.

Reports say that he was the first choice of Sonia Gandhi for the coveted post after Rahul Gandhi stepped down. After he was advised to take over the mantle of the party by Sonia, it is said that Kharge had given his consent.

Thereafter, Sonia Gandhi tried to get Kharge Rajya Sabha seat from Tamil Nadu as he had lost the Lok Sabha election this time. It is said that the DMK legislators resisted this attempt because of longstanding Cauvery river water sharing dispute between the two states.

It is said that five groups which were formed to finalize the name of the national president for the Congress also came up with the name of Rahul Gandhi and Kharge got support of leaders behind Rahul. It is said that even Mukul Wasnik got very few supporters. The party working committee too had finalized the names of Kharge, Mukul Wasnik and Sushil Kumar Shinde, all of whom belong to Dalit community. But Congress leader, Jyotiraditya Scindia, urged the leaders to give weightage to the opinions of young leaders. He got the support of Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh.

Therefore, the names of Scindia and deputy chief minister of Rajasthan, Sachin Pilot, came to the fore. In the meantime, the general opinion that Kharge being aged, would not be able to move around the country and strengthen the party gained ground.

As a result, there was no unanimous choice for the post of the party president, which would have been ideal. The working committee on Saturday night, chose Sonia Gandhi as the interim Congress national president because of differences between groups within the party and its allies.