New Delhi: It may not seem like it from his stoic exterior but Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge has a riotous sense of humour. That, along with his open-door policy and no-nonsense approach, are among the traits that help Kharge (80) tide over rifts and conflicts within the party, say those who work closely with him.
For instance, a party leader once complained to him about not getting an organisational position in spite of having worked hard.
“He (Kharge) looked straight at the leader and asked, ‘Why are you beating about the bush? Seedha seedha boliye, mehnat kare murgi aur anda khaaye fakir? (Be straight-forward, the hen puts in all the work and the fakir eats the egg?)’” said a member of Kharge’s team.
He said that with anecdotes like these, Kharge disarms the other person and takes away the stress from such situations.
“In fact, to the media, discussions like the one to decide who will be chief minister in Karnataka or that for Rajasthan seem like very stressful, serious affairs. But if you were standing outside the door in both meetings, you’d hear peals of laughter from time to time,” he added.
Another instance was when some party members in Karnataka refused to work for a particular candidate because he was an import from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Kharge, according to members of his team, told them, “Aurat ka divorce honey ke baad jab dusri shaadi hoti hai tab woh uss ghar ki bahu bann jaati hai. (A woman, when she remarries after a divorce, becomes the daughter-in-law of that house.)”
Since he was elected party president last October, Kharge has shown time and again that he believes in “consultative consensus” — from ensuring the appointment of a chief minister in Karnataka without a public spat to facilitating a “united” show of strength in Rajasthan after a four-hour-long meeting. Kharge, say those who work with him, is a good listener who doesn’t shy away from long, difficult conversations.
While it is still unclear if the tussle within the Rajasthan Congress is done and dusted, Kharge’s handling of the government formation in Karnataka has earned praise from all quarters. Especially since he had a personal stake in the matter — Karnataka being his home state.
Throughout his political career as a nine-time MLA and three-time state minister, Kharge lost out on the chief minister’s chair twice. Once, in 2013, to CM Siddaramaiah himself.
This time, it was not just D.K. Shivakumar that Kharge had to negotiate with. Others like K.H. Muniyappa, G. Parameshwara and M.B. Patil, too, fostered ambitions. But Kharge was able to put his own history with Siddaramaiah aside to endorse his appointment as chief minister while averting an overt rebellion within the party’s state unit.
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‘Patient & accessible’
According to Kharge’s aides, If someone approaches him complaining of injustice or with a grievance, he can relate easily since he might have experienced it himself.
“For example, when the Karnataka CM was being decided, Kharge ji shared his own experience of missing out on becoming CM twice. He pointed out that in spite of that, he has always been loyal to the party and never went against the Congress. Instead, he kept patient. For someone who has been denied something, he can speak from a personal point of view,” said an All India Congress Committee (AICC) member who works closely with Kharge.
The AICC member added, “The person being spoken to, thereafter, has nothing more to say. If an 80-something man is saying he has reached where he is by being patient, what can someone in their 40s or 50s say?”
Another factor that works in Kharge’s favour, said the team member quoted earlier, is his accessibility. While access to the Gandhis has always been limited for ordinary Congress worker, Kharge has opened his doors to anyone seeking an audience with him.
Every few weeks, he holds a session at the Congress headquarters in Delhi where for about two-three hours, any worker or leader can meet him, even without an appointment. “He meets about 100 Congress workers in a day. We don’t have a pendency list of people he needs to meet. Everybody who wants an appointment gets one, and that too, soon,” said a second member of his team.
Moreover, Kharge has consciously ensured that he does not project himself as a power centre parallel to the Gandhis. Rather, the attempt is to be in sync so that the Congress leadership comes across as one cohesive unit. His relationship with both Rahul and Sonia remains cordial and he believes in making them a part of his consultative process, say team members.
“He says that the former Congress presidents, especially Sonia ji, have run the party for over two decades. I will consult them because they have experience,” said the AICC member quoted earlier.
Further, Kharge’s stint as leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the Rajya Sabha makes him an acceptable veteran respected across party lines, which is why he is the chief negotiator in talks with other Opposition parties.
Kharge ‘makes sure everybody is seen’
Another member of Kharge’s team pointed to an incident that took place in the run-up to the closing ceremony of the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Srinagar in January this year.
For a dinner organised for senior Congress functionaries on the last day of the yatra, the Congress’s Jammu and Kashmir unit did not invite Salman Soz — the son of Congress leader Saifuddin Soz. Salman was the election agent for Shashi Tharoor, Kharge’s rival in the Congress presidential polls.
“When Kharge ji landed in Srinagar, leaders from the J&K Congress surrounded him and said they didn’t want to invite Soz. Kharge ji said the motto of the Bharat Jodo Yatra was ‘nafrat chhodo’ (give up hatred) and it had to start from within the party. There was no discussion after that. Soz was invited,” said the second member of Kharge’s team.
The team member also spoke about the party’s campaign in Nagaland when Tharoor was named a star campaigner. When Kharge found out that he and Tharoor were going to Nagaland to campaign on the same day, the two flew together, he added.
“He (Kharge) really takes care of his team and makes sure that everyone is complimented for the work they do. He will compliment the general secretaries, he will compliment the in-charge, coordinators and joint secretaries. He makes sure that everybody is seen.”
A second AICC functionary spoke about how Kharge himself uses the term “high command” a lot. “One day, I asked him why he uses the term when he himself is the high command. And he said he was not. The high command is the CWC (Congress Working Committee) and now the Steering Committee. The high command is a team,” said the functionary.
A member of Kharge’s team added that the Congress president is a “no-nonsense man”.
“For instance, even during the Rajasthan meeting, individual demands of each leader were not discussed and they were asked point blank what they could do to ensure that the party wins in the state. After that, he said, the rest is his responsibility once the party comes to power,” he added.
Foodie with an elephantine memory
According to his team, Kharge never eats alone. And it has been this way for the past 50 years. A foodie, he ensures that someone joins him for all his meals, even if it is the staff at home. “That shows he is a down-to-earth man. He loves food and he believes that sharing a meal with someone is the highest form of respect,” said the first team member.
While Kharge is a non-vegetarian, he is not allowed to eat meat at home since his wife is a vegetarian. “Sometimes we tell him that he can grab a quick bite when ma’am is not at home. But he doesn’t do that. He says it’s his commitment and he won’t cheat,” the second member added.
Those around him also speak of his elephantine memory. When he reads books, he remembers verses and page numbers. He even remembers the bibliography. “If I cite data to him and tell him something different two weeks later, he’ll pull me up. He doesn’t take notes but remembers everything,” said Congress spokesperson Gurdeep Sappal.
Sappal, who is a part of Kharge’s office, also said that apart from books, Kharge has a keen interest in sports and movies. He tracks the Indian Premier League (IPL) closely and also follows hockey. But that’s not all.
“Once, we were discussing Pathaan and I told him the film had done (business of) Rs 300 crore till then. He retorted by saying that it was less than KGF and Dangal. I was shocked. I didn’t think Kharge ji would know about KGF,” said Sappal.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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