Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said that the DNA of the Gandhi family and the Congress is the same. Tharoor said that no party chief can distance himself from the Gandhi family saying that he is fighting the election of the party president for change. Tharoor once again reiterated that if workers are satisfied with the party’s performance, they should vote for party leader Mallikarjun Kharge.

Shashi Tharoor termed the Gandhis as the assets of the Congress party. “Whoever becomes the Congress President, he cannot foolishly say goodbye to the Gandhi family,” he said. Before starting his tour to different parts of the country to campaign, he told that the DNA of Gandhi family and Congress is the same…the new president will not be so foolish to say goodbye to the Gandhi family. Gandhi family is a huge asset to us.

Within twenty-four hours of filing his nomination at the AICC office in the capital Delhi, he said for the second time that he was representing “change”. Shashi Tharoor said that if party leaders and workers are satisfied with the party’s performance, they should vote for Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge is his rival in the race for the top post of the party.

He also said that the election between him and Kharge is “not a fight”. It should be left to the Congress workmen to choose between the two. He further said, ‘This is not a fight. Leave it to the party workmen, this is our message. I am saying that if you are satisfied with present work of the party, then vote for Kharge Saheb. But if you want change, I am there. There is no conceptual problem between us. There will be no change in the ideology of the Congress party after elections’.

Shashi Tharoor further said, “Nowadays all decisions are being taken in New Delhi (central leadership). It would be good for the party to be empowered to take decisions at the block, district, and state level. Tharoor had released his manifesto soon after filing his nomination on Friday. In this, he mentioned the decentralization of the party. Former Union ministers Mohsina Kidwai, Saifuddin Soz, three MPs and G-23 leader Sandeep Dikshit are among those who signed the nomination forms in support of Shashi Tharoor’s candidature for the post of party president.

Tharoor has posted six forms on Twitter. On Friday, he was able to submit only five forms, the sixth form was delayed for some time. At the same time, it was not known whether all five of his forms were accepted or not, as Congress’s Central Election Authority chief Madhusudan Mistry said on Saturday that four of the twenty nomination forms were rejected.