In an interview to discuss what changes he would bring about in the Congress party, Shashi Tharoor, hours after both he and Mallikarjun Kharge filed their nominations, categorically said that he would abolish Congress’s high command culture, adding that it’s the most unfortunate term reminiscent of Nazi Germany.Tharoor also said that he would make Congress the party of young India, adding that he would make every effort to convince other Congress colleagues, who perhaps are steeped in the older socialist thinking of the Congress, to accept an increasing retreat of the government from the country’s economic life (i.e. privatisation) and to take other steps to enhance the spirit of entrepreneurship and thus meet the ambitions of young Indians.In a 42-minute interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, Tharoor insisted that he was not being naïve in accepting the assurance he was given by all three Gandhis that they would not surreptitiously or unofficially back a favourite candidate.The interview discusses at length the fact that, despite the assurance the Gandhis gave him, it’s widely believed that Kharge has their backing, a point corroborated by the long list of leaders who accompanied Kharge when he filed his nomination, and the fact that he spoke to the media saying he had filed his nomination “Congress party ki aur se (from their side)”.Speaking on the role Rahul Gandhi would play if Tharoor becomes the Congress president, he said that this would be jointly decided by him and the Gandhi family. However, he disagreed with Chidambaram’s distinction (made in an interview to PTI and in his Indian Express column) between the president and the leader of the Congress party. Chidambaram’s point was that no matter who becomes president, Rahul will be the leader and by far more important.Signaling major changes in the running of the Congress, Tharoor committed himself to abolishing the single-line resolution tradition which authorises the Congress president to either choose legislature party leaders or nominate Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) chiefs and All India Congress Committee (AICC) members. He also guaranteed that under him, elections would be held for 12 members of the working committee, and the Congress parliamentary board, which has effectively ceased to exist, will be revived.He said that he would seek to energise and breathe new life into the Congress by involving people from the block level upwards in decision-making and also by reviving the old Congress system of providing services which help people obtain rations, licenses, permits, etc.The interview discusses at length how Tharoor as party president would meet the challenge of Hindutva, and Narendra Modi’s seemingly invincible image.He also discusses how he will reach out to youngsters, both in terms of the message and how it will be communicated. The interview also discusses how he will seek to amend the stand taken by the Congress on critical foreign policy issues such as India’s relationship with Pakistan as well as India’s stand on the Ukraine crisis.In some instances, he committed himself to trying hard to change the Congress party’s thinking. In this regard, he stressed that he is the candidate for change and that if elected president, he would be determined to do just that.
