Mallikarjun Kharge as Congress president could be the best thing to happen to the faction-ridden Karnataka unit of the party, where unity has been a mirage for years now with two powerful leaders jostling against each other while making tall promises about absolute unity.

The rather unexpected turn of events that has made Kharge the frontrunner in the race for Congress president has enthused those in the party’s Karnataka unit, caught between factions led by state party chief D.K. Shivakumar and leader of the Opposition P.C. Siddaramaiah.

Although the two leaders have made open claims about remaining united to bring the party back to power in 2023, their differences have left those on neutral grounds wary of the incendiary situation that could eventually help the ruling BJP.

A day before 80-year-old Kharge’s name was thrown into the mix, his son and lawmaker Priyank Kharge had told The Telegraph that his father was a loyalist of the Gandhi family. “My father is a loyalist who would always stand by the party and obey the high command,” Priyank had said in Mysore on the eve of the Bharat Jodo Yatra’s entry into the state.

Priyank had then denied any knowledge whether the high command was considering his father for the top post. But within 24 hours, as the state leaders were busy welcoming Rahul’s Yatra in the border town of Gundlupet in neighbouring Chamrajnagar district, Kharge had emerged as the frontrunner for party president.

As a senior Congress leader from Karnataka said: “Kharge is the best possible choice at the national and state level. While he is a dedicated leader, his presence as party president would help galvanise the Congress in Karnataka in time for next year’s state elections and put both Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar in their place,” the leader, who did not want to be named, said.

Rahul Gandhi with a young supporter during the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Mandya district on Monday. PTI picture

Shivakumar has been working towards becoming chief minister if the Congress wins a clear majority. But Siddaramaiah, who had a successful tenure as chief minister from 2013 to 2018 when the state boasted one of its least controversial governments, is already pitching for another term.

“The party needs both of them. But the one-upmanship is causing a lot of damage to the party,” said the leader, a former Congress office-bearer in the state.

Political analyst Sandeep Shastri had no doubt that the Congress would play the Kharge card in Karnataka since his election seems a mere formality.

“Since it is more or less clear that Kharge will be the next president, I think the Congress will try to project how a leader from Karnataka is playing a major role at the national level,” he told this newspaper.

While Kharge has repeatedly dismissed his caste identity as incidental, Shastri felt that it would come into play in his home state as it heads for elections. “It will also help consolidate the social coalition they (the Congress) are trying to create,” he said, alluding to the party’s efforts to woo Dalit votes.

The Dalit community in Karnataka, which makes up 24 per cent of the state’s population of 6.5 crore, is divided into “Left” and “Right” — the latter representing Dalits who are better off in terms of socio-economic status. Kharge is a Dalit “Right”, although he hates being identified with a caste.

While the Dalit “Right” has historically backed the Congress, sections of the “Left” have gravitated towards the BJP since 2008 when they helped the party come to power in the state.

Kharge as Congress president may also help add the much-needed third dimension in the social coalition the Congress is trying to build in Karnataka.

“They will have three prominent leaders representing three dimensions of the social coalition — the OBCs represented by Siddaramaiah, Vokkaligas by Shivakumar and Dalits by Kharge,” Shastri said. He cautioned that it would all boil down to “how the Congress plays its cards and how the BJP responds”.