Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it was because of his party that a person like him with a humble background could have a long political career and become an MLA and MP for multiple terms.

While addressing a ‘Jai Bharat Satyagraha Sabha’ at Mancherial in Telangana, the party president said he would not have been a lawmaker had late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and senior Congress leader Sonia Gandhi not encouraged a “poor man” like him.

‘Sonia Gandhi gave me the opportunity’

He said Sonia Gandhi “gave him” an opportunity to work as the president of the Congress, which is a huge responsibility.

In October last year, Mr Kharge took on the mantle of AICC president after being elected the party chief in a contest where he was pitted against Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. He is the party’s first non-Gandhi president in 24 years.

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Kharge slams Centre

Slamming the BJP government at the Centre, he claimed that while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was given notice and disqualified from the Lok Sabha within 24 hours of his conviction in the 2019 defamation case, a BJP MP from Gujarat was not disqualified despite being convicted in a criminal case. Kharge, however, did not name the MP from Gujarat.

The Congress chief also accused the Narendra Modi-led government of weakening the public sector and not creating crores of jobs as promised.

He also targeted the BRS government in Telangana, accusing it of not fulfilling its promises, including providing three acres of land to Dalit families.

Hailing the contributions of Dr B R Ambedkar on his birth anniversary, Kharge said it was because of the architect of the Constitution that Dalits and women got voting rights.