Contesting Congress presidential poll as Gandhi family not in the fray: Kharge

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday expressed regret that no one from the Gandhi family was running for the party chief's post and said he took the plunge on the advice of all in the party. As part of his campaign for the AICC presidential post, Kharge visited the headquarters of Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee in Vijayawada.

Kharge said he played a long innings in Karnataka politics and contested the Lok Sabha elections in 2009 on the advice of current party president Sonia Gandhi. "Election for the Congress president's post became inevitable as Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka refused to take it up. So I have jumped into the fray for the president's post on the advice of all in the party," Kharge told reporters after addressing the AP Congress leaders.

"I served as Union Labour and Social Justice minister," he said and also mentioned his tenure as Congress party leader in Lok Sabha. Kharge said he would implement the Udaipur Declaration of offering 50 percent of party posts to those below 50 years of age, if elected as AICC president. He also said 50 percent of seats in the 2024 election would be given to those below 50 years of age.

He took exception to the labelling of party leader Rahul Gandhi's ongoing foot march as 'Bharat Todo (split) Yatra'. "It is indeed Bharat Jodo Yatra. It is the BJP that is dividing the country in the name of castes and religion," Kharge lashed out.