New Delhi

In September, 2022, Mallikarjun Kharge was one of the two signatories of the report on the rebellion of loyalists of Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot who derailed the Congress’ plan to appoint the latter as party chief and make Sachin Pilot the state’s new CM.

Over 90 MLAs, all considered close to Gehlot, refused to attend a CLP meeting i that same month and went into a huddle elsewhere in a rare show of rebellion. The plan to make Gehlot party president was abandoned; he stayed CM. Two months later, frustrated with no visible action on this breach of discipline, the other observer, Ajay Maken, put in his papers as the party in-charge of Rajasthan.

Kharge, a Congressman for over 50 years, who was unexpectedly named pary president in October took a different path. Over the past year, he has held a series of meetings with both Gehlot and Pilot, underlined that both are important leaders , and managed to project a united Congress in the run up to the Rajasthan election in November.

He managed to address similar factionalism in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh and Chattisgarh. Interestingly, under his leadership the party won assembly polls in the first two, one late last year and the other this year, ending the drought of the past four years. In August, Kharge expanded the party’s working committee, CWC to accommodate caste and gender-based quotas for the first time. And he has played a central role in bringing together 27 parties to form the INDIA bloc. That’s not bad for an 81-year-old who was neither keen on the post nor a front-runner when the party first decided that someone outside the Nehru-Gandhi family would head it.

The push for unity

Forging unity between warring groups both inside and outside the party has been one of the biggest achievements of Kharge, who was elected to the top post of the party on October 26 last year. In Rajasthan and Karnataka—his home state—Congress factions managed to bury the hatchets and avoid a bitter battle for power. In Chhattisgarh, TS Singh Deo, a contender for the CM post was made deputy CM ahead of the polls. Within the organization, he elevated Shashi Tharoor, who fought against him in the presidential election, as a CWC member.

“Kharge and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi have a similar approach to tackle factionalism. They bank on extensive talks with the stakeholders and warring factions. Kharge held at least five meetings on the Rajasthan crisis. He called the two leaders separately then he called them together in a bid to reach an amicable solution,” said a senior leader who works closely with the Congress president.

In Karnataka, where two heavyweights, Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, sought the chief minister’s position, Kharge held a number of meetings with both.

At the national level, Kharge, along with Bihar chief minister and Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar, Bengal’s CM and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee and former Maharashtra CM Sharad Pawar has stitched a rare pre-poll alliance of the Opposition. While the crucial seat sharing talks are yet to start, and next month’s state elections have already seen some friction, the bloc’s members have resolved to fight together in as many seats as possible.

“We have called several times all the leaders one by one and first everything was prepared here when Sharad Pawar, Nitish and Tejashwi came here and (TR) Balu came here who are all political heads. They were here twice and ultimately we thought that together we can go each state and then the first meeting was fixed in Patna and then Bengaluru and then Mumbai. So full unity and confidence is there but our exercise and survey is going and different parties are making surveys,” Kharge had told HT.

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Consensus builder, not remote controlled

Kharge, the first non-Gandhi Congress chief in the past 25 years, contested against Shashi Tharoor as a last-minute choice of the establishment after Ashok Gehlot dropped out of the race. He received 7,897 votes as against Tharoor’s 1,072. Kharge’s nomination found all-round support , including from most of the erstwhile G23, a group of 23 Congress leaders that wrote to then party president Sonia Gandhi about gaps in the working of the party.

But the win didn’t alter the perception that the remote control of the party still rested with the Gandhi family. At a poll rally in Karnataka this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “I have great respect for Mallikarjun Kharge. But I was sad looking at how Kharge was treated during the Congress (AICC) session in Chhattisgarh.”

“In the hot weather, Kharge didn’t have the good fortune of getting an umbrella. An umbrella was available for someone standing next to him. Kharge is the president but everyone could see who had the remote control,” the PM said.

The six-months delay in reconstituting the CWC further fueled speculations. Congress insiders, maintained that Kharge “consults key leaders but takes his own decisions”.

But it is now clear that Kharge is treading his own path. He has removed a number of leaders who were considered close to Rahul Gandhi. A Congress leader who asked not to be named pointed out that Rahul Gandhi publicly announced at Raipur that he will work under his leadership as a team member. In an interview to HT, Kharge denied that the remote control remains with the Gandhis but insisted that he consults Rahul Gandhi and others for a consensus approach.

“In his first year, I see only hits and no misses. The Congress won two assembly elections, lifting the morale of the party. The Congress looks more coherent, has better visibility and he has put up a good team. He also managed internal power tussle,” said Sanjay Kumar of CSDS.

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Unfinished tasks

While Kharge oversaw the expansion of the CWC from 24 to 35 members and introduction of caste, community and gender-based quotas in the party’s top executive body, he has carried out only a limited reshuffle in the portfolios.

A major reshuffle in the organization, which usually follows after a new president takes over, is pending. “It is also important that we make several changes ahead of the 2024 election to reboot our organization,” quipped a third Congress leader.

The Udaipur conclave of the Congress in 2022 emphasised the 50% quota for youth but the plan has not yet been executed. In the latest CWC reshuffle, only three of the 35 members of the main CWC were below the age of 50.

“He requires more legitimacy to push reforms. Within the party he still doesn’t have full command and I don’t expect any reforms before 2024 polls. But I don’t count this as not failures of Kharge. Even Sonia or Rahul Gandhi couldn’t push key reforms,” said Sanjay Kumar of CSDS.

The Congress party has also not been able to implement the policy of “one family one ticket” and “one man one post” , both part of the Udaipur declaration. A number of leaders continue to hold multiple responsibilities and there are no immediate indications that these far-reaching reforms will be rolled out soon. In the upcoming elections of Madhya Pradesh, at least four families have got more than one ticket in the Congress party.

Kharge’s top priority, however, remains the 2024 elections and , ahead of that, wnsuring coordination in seat-sharing arrangements with other constituents of INDIA.

In his own words, “Everything is not that simple and we will tackle it, however it is. We can’t succeed 100%, but even it is 99% it is good ….”