Even though Kharge has not been big on capitalising on his caste identity, his elevation within the party comes at a time when space for Dalit politics is opening up in India.
Focus still on Gandhis, BJP leaders say they'll deploy the 'remote-controlled' narrative used during Manmohan Singh's tenure as PM, but will be 'careful' due to Kharge's Dalit identity.
Gandhi, who is in Andhra Pradesh as part of the Bharat Jodo Yatra, alluded to Kharge as the Congress chief even before the official results of the internal polls were announced.
While Congress presidents are mostly chosen via consensus, there have been times when elections were fought. Sonia is the only one from Gandhi family to have contested for the post.
Mallikarjun Kharge & Shashi Tharoor vote in their states. Central Election Authority chair Madhusudan Mistry says 96% turnout registered for polls deciding next Congress chief.
The rally in Bellary was Congress’s show of strength and unity with Rajathan CM Ashok Gehlot, Cong president hopeful Mallikarjun Kharge and feuding state leaders D K Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah in attendance
For all their colonial underpinnings, postcards from Hyderabad also inadvertently preserve a trace of local memory: a glimpse of a street, a face, a forgotten name.
Indian toymakers are now exploring new markets, but they want govt to negotiate a trade deal with US soon, introduce incentives and subsidies to make the industry more competitive.
The project is meant to be a ‘protective shield that will keep expanding’, the PM said. It is on the lines of the ‘Golden Dome’ announced by Trump, it is learnt.
Now that both IAF and PAF have made formal claims of having shot down the other’s aircraft in the 87-hour war in May, we can ask a larger question: do such numbers really matter?
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