New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge is likely to disclose the party's role in national politics in his first visit to Mumbai on December 28, the grand old party's foundation day, to unite the country and secure its borders. The Mumbai unit of the Congress has been celebrating the foundation day every year in Gwalia Tank where the Quit India Movement was started in 1942 but this time, a massive rally will be taken out to host the new party chief.
The grand old party came into being in Mumbai on December 28, 1885. Though an event will be organised at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi where former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with a battery of party leaders will be present, the party managers planned a separate Mumbai rally on the same day to amplify the message.
"This is Khargeji's first visit to Mumbai after taking over as party president. We are preparing for a grand welcome for him," senior Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam, who reviewed the arrangements on Wednesday with party leaders, told ETV Bharat. According to Nirupam, the need to unite the country and tackle the border threat from China are the two burning issues and the Congress chief is expected to touch upon them.
"It will be more of a festive mood than politics, but Khargeji has his own political philosophy and style. The role played by the party in the freedom struggle may also be mentioned," he said. Interestingly, Kharge has adopted an aggressive stance against the BJP ever since taking over as Congress chief on October 26.
He attacked the saffron party for questioning the Congress's contribution over the past 70 years at an event during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad and later at rallies in Bengaluru, Kalburgi, Shimla and Ahmedabad. His latest rally at Alwar created a furore in Parliament as the ruling BJP sought an apology from Kharge for his allegedly disparaging remarks that "not even a dog of the BJP leaders sacrificed his life for the country while two former Prime Ministers of the Congress gave their lives for the nation."
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Kharge, who refused to tender an apology, said he had made the alleged remarks in response to the BJP seeking an apology from Rahul Gandhi for highlighting the Chinese threat on the borders. Congress has been pressing for a debate on the China situation, but the government has not relented. "We have been seeking a debate over the China threat not only in this session, but since 2020 as the government has refused to discuss the issue," Rajya Sabha member Syed Naseer Hussain pointed out.
Kharge is also expected to bat for the Udhav Thackeray-NCP-Congress alliance, which is known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi and is putting up a solid challenge to the ruling coalition. The MVA, which was formed in 2019, was ousted from the government when Sena rebel Eknath Shinde joined hands with the BJP to form a government in June.
Interestingly, Nirupam, who used to suggest the government should not join the MVA government, now favours that Congress should remain in the alliance. "There is unease within the BJP over the functioning of the Chief Minister. This may lead to a fall of the government as the BJP wants total control in Maharashtra," said Nirupam.
"The MVA is in a position to challenge the ruling combine and must stay together. If we pursue the go-alone line, we may be isolated in the state. It is better for Congress to keep expanding itself by remaining in the MVA," he said. He, however, noted that the grand old party needed to do a lot of work to expand itself in the western state where it once ruled.
"It is an honour for us to host Khargeji on December 28. The political message will be revealed on that day," Mumbai Congress working president Charan Singh Sapra said. Given the party's Bharat Jodo Yatra, which passed through Maharashtra recently, had received a very good response, Kharge may also ask the state leaders to strengthen the party in the state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
"The MVA can easily win 30 of the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra if we work together and stay strong," said Nirupam, who noted that former Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray was getting public sympathy after as he lost power due to a factional feud. Soon after the MVA candidate won the recent Andheri East assembly bypoll, former minister Aditya Thackeray of Sena and NCP Lok Sabha member Supriya Sule attended Rahul Gandhi’s yatra in Maharashtra to express solidarity with the grand old party. Keeping that in mind, Nirupam said he has suggested to the party leaders to invite the allies also for the Congress foundation day event and Kharge’s rally in Mumbai, but a final decision was awaited.
