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KPCC leaders backing Kharge because Gandhi family interfering in election: K.V. Thomas

Veteran leader questions Congress's 'double standards' on age ceiling

Former Union minister K.V. Thomas Former Union minister K.V. Thomas

Former Union minister K.V. Thomas is someone who knows the inner dynamics of the Congress party very well. The veteran leader was expelled from the party in May after he had rebelled against the leadership by addressing a CPI(M) election convention for the Thrikkakara assembly by-election. Thomas, who had handled multiple positions in the state and Central leadership of the Congress before being expelled, says that the party leadership had shown two applied standards to him and Mallikarjun Kharge. He also adds that the senior leaders in Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee are pitching for Kharge’s victory just because the Gandhi family is interfering in the AICC presidential elections.

Excerpts:

Many senior Congress leaders from Kerala, including the office-bearers in the party, are openly pitching for Kharge’s victory. What do you think is the reason for this open support?

The election committee chairman of Congress himself has said that no office-bearer should canvas openly for any candidate. If they have to canvas, they have to resign from their position. But what we see now is that those including [AICC general secretary] K.C. Venugopal are doing canvassing. They are getting involved in fixing the candidate itself. KC said that Kharge is [Gandhi] family’s candidate. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi say that they do not have a candidate. But they are not rejecting what KC is saying. So it is all happening with the knowledge of the family. All these are putting their credibility in question. They said that the election will happen independently and transparently and that they won’t interfere. But, they are interfering. It is because of such interference that the senior Congress leaders from Kerala now want to pitch openly for Kharge. They want to show that they are in support of the family.

Shashi Tharoor puts forward the idea that he wants to bring a change in the Congress party—that he wants to change the status quo.  

Many people including me had this stance that if Sonia Gandhi is not coming, either Rahul or Priyanka should come to the top leadership. Because that family has a great influence on the party. There is no doubt that this party is glued together by that family. When they were asked to take the top position, they said no…and that they won’t recommend anybody’s name. It was in these circumstances that Shashi Tharoor came into this fray. Tharoor had met Sonia Gandhi and other leaders before entering this fight. They told him that they won’t interfere. But when someone says that Kharge is their candidate, it shows that the family is expecting to do back-seat driving. They have to think whether such a move will help the party. If Kharge or someone else was their choice, they could have directly said that. They did not take a stand like that. When veteran leaders like A.K. Antony are openly supporting Kharge, it means that it is in the family’s interest.

But there are many young leaders, including many from the young fold in Kerala, supporting Tharoor. What does that mean? Does that mean that young leaders in Congress are not fearing a backlash from high command?

For the last ten years, the stance taken by Rahul Gandhi was that new leadership should come into the party. More youth should come into the party leadership. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, they rejected seat for me. I am not someone who had lost. If I was elected seven times, it is because people elected me. I have also handled many positions in the party. I have worked at various levels in the party. They should have communicated to me properly that they are rejecting my candidature, right? I had asked them whether I should stand for elections. The then KPCC president himself had said that I would be the one representing the party in Ernakulam. However, I finally saw on TV [that I do not have seat there]. But what did they tell me then? That I am 73. Seventy-three-year-old K.V. Thomas is unfit, but 80-year-old Kharge is fit. We cannot see an unbiased attitude from the Congress leadership.

Even if Tharoor somehow manages to win, will he be able to bring any kind of changes to the grand old party?

If he does not have the support of the family [he will not be able to function]. This is not a new thing in the Congress party. In the 1939 Tripuri All India Congress Committee Session, Subhas Chandra Bose contested for the president's post against the wishes of Mahatma Gandhi. Though Bose won the election, he could not move forward. He had to resign from his post. So, it is there in the history of Congress. In 1969, Indira Gandhi made the move to make V.V. Giri the President of India, though the party’s official candidate was Sanjiva Reddy. So this has happened many times in this party. And that is why this party has become weaker.

Whether Tharoor wins or lose is not what matters. Every vote that he gets has value. Because those voting for him are taking a stance that is different from that of Congress high command.

Tharoor has put forward the idea that this contest is to strengthen intra-party democracy in Congress.

Do you think the current scenario will give such an impression? The high command is actively involved [for the victory of a candidate]. Who is going to vote in the current election? It is AICC members. In how many states, the AICC members were elected democratically? Even in Kerala, group leaders will make a list and the Congress president is designated to select them. In many other states, even such protocols are not there. And, there is no idea who all are AICC members. So, this election cannot be seen as a democratic election process. 

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