The campaigning for the polls to pick the new president of the Indian National Congress is in full swing. The two main candidates – Shashi Tharoor and Mallikarjun Kharge – are going all out before the polls on October 17. Veteran leader Kharge from Karnataka started his 10-state tour to meet with Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) delegates, those who would be voting in the upcoming party presidential poll, on Friday. Tharoor has already visited Maharashtra, Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

“I present my 60 nominees. 12 states, all levels of leadership but all proud INC workers. I thank them & the thousands of workers they represent for the faith they have placed in me. Thanks, my Parliamentary colleagues, for your unwavering support,” Tharoor said at the start of his campaign on Twitter.

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Tharoor’s campaign, which has attracted far fewer veteran leaders than Kharge, is focused on rejuvenating and revamping India’s grand old party after poor performances in two consecutive Lok Sabha elections and weak showings in state assembly elections.

“This election is about how Congress should be best equipped to take on the ruling government today, which is BJP. We have lost two elections... We need a renewed, reinvigorated Congress party where it is mobilized effectively to take on this challenge,” Tharoor said. Among Tharoor’s changes, more decentralisation, more power to state chiefs, and limited terms are some of the things that he promised.

Tharoor has stated that the democratic process is good for the party but added that his contest with Kharge was not a battle. Instead, Tharoor posits that choosing Kharge represents the status quo while he himself represents change. “But those who are satisfied with the party functioning should choose Kharge Sahab, and those who want change should choose me,” he had said.

Kharge, who on the other hand has gained large support of veteran leaders, has said multiple times that he entered the fray only after being asked by party workers and seniors. Khrage reportedly has the support of the Gandhi family, making him the favourite to win the election.

“As Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi didn’t want to fight the polls, I was asked by my senior colleagues to contest the elections. I am not fighting against anyone. I am fighting for the ideology of the party,” Kharge said.

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Kharge started his election campaign on the birth anniversaries of Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri. “I have always fought for my ideology and ethics and my childhood was full of struggles. I have been the Leader of the Opposition, minister and MLA for several years. I want to fight again now and take forward those same ethics and ideology," the senior Congress leader added.

While Kharge has added that there will be reforms as needed, he was also quick to add that only Tharoor wanted to see a contest for the position of party president while Kharge wanted consensus from all party workers.

(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)