After the Congress’s fraught delay in nominating V D Satheesan as Kerala Chief Minister, the focus has shifted to 83-year old Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Some complain that Kharge is turning into a bit of a liability because of his excess baggage. Kharge violates the principle of one man, one post — apart from being party president, he is also Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha and enjoys the perks that come with the office. Kharge’s son Priyank has just been appointed Home Minister in the new D K Shiv Kumar government in Karnataka. For the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections, Kharge has selected his aide Pranav Jha as the Congress candidate from Jharkhand, when there were several more deserving candidates. Earlier, Kharge’s protégé, Neeraj Dangi, got a Rajya Sabha ticket from Rajasthan. Rahul Gandhi is particularly upset with Kharge’s lack of judgment in the Tamil Nadu poll. The party president, along with P Chidambaram, insisted that the Congress not break its long-standing alliance with the DMK, although Rahul Gandhi was keen for an electoral tie-up with the charismatic film star C Joseph Vijay, who eventually ended up as chief minister. The Congress ditched the DMK........

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