Kharge-Rahul banter to dig at Tharoor: Inside story of Congress Working Committee meet
The Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours, with leaders praising Rahul Gandhi for flagging alleged irregularities in the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise and the electoral process. But amid discussions on the party’s political strategy and taking the campaign to the ground, the meeting also had its share of banter, laughter and political barbs.
According to Congress leaders who attended the meeting, Rahul Gandhi told CWC members that the party had been exposing alleged malpractices in the EC and urged them to have faith in the Congress and amplify the issues it was raising.
“Rahul Gandhi said that we have been exposing the malpractices in the EC. Now, looking at the PM and HM, it seems they have understood that they are about to go. You should also understand this,” a leader quoted him as saying.
When a leader credited Rahul Gandhi for the party’s campaign, he responded: “The credit goes to the Congress. I have no identity without the Congress.”
The CWC also discussed taking the issue to the ground and turning it into a wider people’s movement, including references to the CJP movement and the demand for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stressed that the Congress was not dependent on anyone to fight the issue.
“Congress kisi ke sahare nahin hai” (Congress is not dependent on anybody), she said, according to a leader present at the meeting. “We have been raising this issue from the very beginning, and we are competent enough to fight this battle alone. We don’t need to depend on anybody.”
The leader said another CWC member remarked that Gyanesh Kumar was “very obstinate” and would never resign.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra responded: “Why will he not resign? Didn’t Dharmendra Pradhan resign? He had to. We will keep agitating on the streets and build momentum till he is forced to resign.”‘BAHUT PEECHHE TOH NAHIN HAIN?’
The serious discussions were briefly punctuated by a lighter exchange between Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.
According to a leader who attended the meeting, Kharge, while expressing support for Rahul Gandhi, said: “Hum aapke peeche chal rahe hain” (We are all walking behind you).
Rahul Gandhi smiled and replied: “Bahut peeche toh nahin hain?” (Not too far behind, I hope?)
The remark drew laughter from those present.
Kharge then responded: “Hum aapke saath chal rahe hain” (We are walking alongside you).
The exchange offered a lighter moment during the meeting and highlighted the camaraderie between the two leaders.KHARGE’S DIG AT THAROOR
Another lighter moment came when Congress MP Shashi Tharoor suggested that the party organise an event around Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary, arguing that the BJP could otherwise use the occasion to build its own narrative.
Kharge then asked Tharoor whether he would actually attend such an event organised by the party, or whether Congress leaders would only see him on X and read his articles in newspapers.
“Kharge ji immediately asked Dr Tharoor whether he would be present for any such event organised by the party, or whether they would only see him on X or read his articles in newspapers. It was a light-hearted comment, but it made many leaders smile and laugh,” a leader told India Today.
The leader added that Kharge’s remarks, even when made jokingly, often carry political overtones.
This was not the first instance of Kharge taking a dig at Tharoor. At an earlier CWC meeting, the Congress president had made a veiled reference to “good-looking netas” who are popular on television and write articles in newspapers, saying they should also have taken up the “shuddhikaran” issue with the same spirit.- Ends
