'Bakrid mein bachenge toh...': Kharge evades query on Congress' 2024 PM candidate name; BJP calls it 'insult to Muslims'

Congress presidential poll candidate Mallikarjun Kharge today avoided a direct reply to a query on who will be the Congress' prime ministerial candidate if he gets elected as party chief. He quoted a proverb popular in his home state Karnataka to say, "If you survive on one festival, then you will dance on another event."

Asked whether, as the possible next Congress president, he would be up against Rahul Gandhi when it came to naming the party's prime ministerial face for the 2024 national election, Mr Kharge said it was too early to say.

“Let us deal with these elections first. There is a saying - Bakrid mein bachenge toh muharram mein nachenge (if the goat survives Bakrid then it will dance during muharram). First let the vote get over, let me become chief, then we will see,” Kharge topld reporters in Bhopal where campaigned for the party's internal election on Monday (October 17).

The senior Congressman maintained he is contesting the election for the top party post to save the Constitution and democracy in the country. The veteran politician said he was "forced" by Congress workers to enter the fray as no one from the Gandhi family came forward to contest the election since they wanted to stay away from the process to ensure an impartial poll. 

The remark mentioning the Muslim festival evoked a sharp response from the BJP who said it was insult for the Muslims as Muharram is not the month of celebrations. 

Tweeting an angry retort to Kharge’s remark, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala said in a video tweet: “Muslims across the world do not celebrate Muharram, it is not a month of celebration but a month of sorrow. To say that there will be naach gaana in Muharram is extremely objectionable.”  

Poonawala described Kharge as the chosen proxy of the Congress’ first family. He said that the Congress leader’s remarks reflected the “poor state” of his party and should come as an eyeopener to Rahul Gandhi and his ambitions.

Kharge was in Bhopal to address Congress delegates ahead of the October 17 party presidential poll, where he is taking on Lok Sabha MP from Kerala Shashi Tharoor.

The Congress leader said he believes in collective leadership and will implement the Udaipur Chintan Shivir's (brainstorming session) declaration by consulting everyone if elected. 

“I believe in collective leadership, will take everyone into confidence and consult all before taking any decision as per majority like implementing the Udaipur declaration,” Kharge said.

“I will consult Sonia Gandhi as well as Rahul Gandhi as they have been party chiefs for more than 20 years (put together) and under their leadership our party had formed government twice (at the Centre) and framed a number of welfare schemes for the poor,” the Rajya Sabha MP added. 

The Udaipur declaration, adopted at a Congress conclave held in May in Rajasthan, refers to a set of proposals like one person, one post and offering 50 per cent of party posts to those below 50 years.