Tharoor highlights need for ‘renewed, reinvigorated’ Cong

Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday said that with two consecutive losses in the Lok Sabha elections, there is a need for a “renewed and reinvigorated” party to take on the challenge of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre.
Tharoor is currently in Hyderabad campaigning for the upcoming presidential polls of the party in which he is up against the veteran leader Mallikarjun Kharge. “This election is about how Congress should be best equipped to take on the ruling govt 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 while speaking to the media.
He denied the existence of the G-23 group within the Congress (which wrote to Sonia Gandhi seeking reforms in the party), and said that it was a “media idea”.
“There is no G-23 group. There never was, it was a media idea. As far as I can tell you, a couple of seniors wrote the letter. They invited a large number of people to support them. They told me that by phone they have contacted over a hundred peo-ple who have extended support. There was lockdown in 2020. Only 23 peo-ple were available in Delhi to sign it at that time,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, Tharoor said that he represents a change in the party which a leader like Mallikarjun Kharge can’t bring about.
“We are not enemies, it’s not war. Some people are saying that Kharge Ji is a senior leader, and why don’t I get out of the race for him? I respect Kharge Ji, but it’s a poll for our party’s future. There are differences in the way we want to take the party for-ward,” Tharoor said.
“Kharge Ji is a part of our leadership, and other than the Gandhi family he is among the top three leaders of the Congress party. But leaders like him can’t bring change and will continue the existing system. I will bring the change as per the expectations of party workers,” Tharoor further said.