Other than enthusing the Congress employee base in Karnataka, celebration leaders really feel this might present the therapeutic contact wanted by the faction-rid state unit which is usually within the information for the unsuitable causes.
The event additionally has the potential to swing voters in the direction of the Congress within the seven backward districts of Kalyana Karnataka (previously Hyderabad Karnataka area) the place Kharge, a nine-time MLA from Karnataka, wields vital affect for his function in adoption of Article 371J within the Structure, which gives particular standing to the area.
Article 371J, inserted through an modification through the UPA authorities’s time in 2012, empowers the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka area, together with the districts of Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal, Yadgir and undivided Bellary. Kharge was a Union minister on the time.
These districts account for 39 Meeting seats, and within the 2018 polls, the Congress and BJP have been evenly poised right here, with the Congress successful 19 constituencies towards the BJP’s 16. Subsequent bypolls noticed the BJP take two seats from the Congress. The JD(S) received 4 seats right here within the 2018 elections.
Kharge’s hand on the reins of the celebration can be anticipated to lastly management the fixed bickering between the camps of Karnataka Congress president D Ok Shivakumar and Chief of the Opposition Siddaramaiah, each of whom harbour chief ministerial ambitions.
“Kharge was misplaced as a political pressure in Karnataka, however will probably be an influence to reckon with if he’s elected president,” stated Prof Muzaffar H Assadi, Chairman of the Division of Political Science, College of Mysore.
Whereas unity inside the ranks would assist the Congress give a more durable struggle to the BJP within the 2023 Meeting elections, Kharge as Congress president may additionally assist the celebration rope in Dalit votes. Many among the many Scheduled Castes within the state nonetheless maintain a grudge towards the Congress for denying Kharge chief ministership thrice, when he was only a whisper away from the submit. Dalits make up a considerable 23% of the inhabitants in Karnataka.
State PCC working president Ramalinga Reddy acknowledged the constructive impression of Kharge’s elevation on each votes for the celebration throughout communities, in addition to unity within the ranks. “Importantly, he can take everybody collectively and settle any variations amongst teams,” Reddy stated, including that Kharge additionally has a following within the Kittur Karnataka (Mumbai Karnataka) area.
Saleem Ahmed, additionally a Karnataka PCC working president, stated Kharge’s win will ship a message to Congress staff that the celebration rewards loyalty.
Stressing that Kharge will win towards his rival Shashi Tharoor by “a thumping majority”, Ahmed added: “Kharge has a clear picture and has by no means confronted any prices towards him, which may also be a plus for the state unit.”