Tharoor 'open' to public debate between Congress president poll candidates; Kharge responds

Shashi Tharoor said holding a public debate between the candidates for the Congress president's post would evoke "people's interest" in the party.

New Delhi: Congress leader and Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday (October 2, 2022) said he would be open to the idea of a public debate between the candidates for the party president's post, as it would evoke people's interest in the party similar to the recent British Conservative Party leadership race. Mallikarjun Kharge, who is set for an electoral face-off with Tharoor, however, said the two were from the same family and there was "no point" in holding such a debate. 

Asked if he would want a public debate between the party's presidential candidates as is seen in many western democracies and if such an exercise would help delegates make up their minds, Tharoor told news agency PTI, "I would be open to the idea."

The Thiruvananthapuram MP insisted that "there are no ideological differences among us; rather, it is a question of how we propose to go about achieving the objectives we already agree upon."

Batting for a public debate, he said between the last date for submission of nominations and the date for polls, there are roughly about two-and-a-half weeks and it would be practically and logistically difficult to reach out to all the 9,000-odd delegates who are eligible to vote in these elections.

"In that sense, a platform where candidates can exchange their ideas and vision for the party in a constructive manner would potentially facilitate the transmission of these perspectives to more of the delegates than we can reach," Tharoor said.

At the same time, such an exchange of ideas would certainly garner much interest from non-voting sections as well, be it other Congress workers, the media and even the general Indian public, he added.

"As I have often pointed out, an exchange of ideas among candidates could have beneficial effects for the party -- for instance, we have seen the global interest in the British Conservative Party during their recent leadership race, a phenomenon we already witnessed in 2019, when a dozen candidates contested to replace Theresa May and Boris Johnson emerged on top," Tharoor said.

Replicating a similar scenario will similarly increase the national interest in the Congress party and galvanise more voters towards the party once again, he stated.

Replying to a query on Tharoor's debate suggestion at a press conference in Delhi, Mallikarjun Kharge said, "I don't want to go into this. Whatever I have to say, I will say it clearly.

"There are many people who are intellectual, learned, they may want a debate, I don't want to get into that, I only know how to work, give me an opportunity to do that," he added.

Kharge further said, "We are both from the same family. When there are people of the same family, there is no question of fighting against each other. Let us fight together against those who are promoting inflation, unemployment, creating conflict among people, who are making people of one religion fight with the other, who are making people fight in the name of language."

Even after the election, all the people have to work together and strengthen the principles of Congress, he asserted, adding that Tharoor and he were from one family and there was no point of debate.

"Our struggle is with the BJP, with Modi-Shah. We both have to work together," he added.

(With agency inputs)