Kharge's photos yet to find place at 24 Akbar Road a month after his election as Congress chief

Soon after he became president, Kharge started meeting leaders and workers by giving appointments at his home. He also plunged into the electoral campaign for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections.

By Siddharth Sharma Even as Congress has got a non-Gandhi president after 24 years in Mallikarjun Kharge and the leader has plunged in election campaign in poll-bound states, the dominance of Gandhi family is visible even after a month of the change of top leader at the AICC.

Kharge's picture is still missing from the official hoarding board of the Congress headquarters and it is yet to find place in rooms of party's key office-bearers. This was not the case when Sonia Gandhi took the leadership role and when Rahul Gandhi became general secretary and later party chief.

Soon after he became president, Kharge started meeting leaders and workers by giving appointments at his home. He also plunged into the electoral campaign for Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat elections. He has started meeting workers at Congress headquarters between 11 am and 1 pm without appointment. After Rahul Gandhi had resigned as party chief in 2019, this process of meetings came to a virtual standstill, party leaders said.

"Soniaji and Rahulji also used to meet but it all stopped due to coronavirus. It has started again and people can meet without any prior appointment," Naseer Hussain, Congress MP and coordinator attached to Kharge, told ANI. Kharge has fully taken over but the Congress apparatus is apparently slow to react. When Sonia became president, her photo was placed on the official board of the party headquarters at 24 Akbar Road in Delhi.

Photos of Sonia along with that of other veteran leaders was put up in the room of every Congress office-bearer at Congress headquarters. Rahul Gandhi's photo also made it to the rooms of AICC office-bearers soon after he was appointed general secretary.

His photo was all over the AICC after he became the party chief in 2017 and photos of other members of Gandhi-Nehru family who have held party posts also adorned the walls. In fact, Rahul Gandhi's picture was replaced by that of Sonia on the official board of the party within 24 hours when she became the interim president in 2019. Photos of the two leaders were already in AICC rooms. Nasir Hussain sought to play down the delay in putting up of Kharge's photo."I have not seen where the picture has not been put up, it has been used in the posters for publicity and manifestos. Rest of the places it will also be put up soon," he said.

The situation is likely to give ammunition to the BJP to continue attacking the Congress on "family rule". Though the Gandhi family has followed the protocol and has extended due courtesies to Kharge, the "Congress system" appears slow to react giving rise to various questions. (ANI)

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