Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that the next party chief would not be remote controlled by the Gandhi family, adding that both politicians are people of stature.
“I do not think parliamentarian Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor are going to be remote-controlled, and frankly, the tone is insulting to them,” Gandhi told reporters in Turuvekere in Karnataka.
Earlier this week, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) politician Sushil Kumar Modi said that whoever becomes the party leader will be a “puppet” of the Gandhi family.
Meanwhile, several senior Congress politicians have backed Kharge’s candidature.
Gandhi is currently carrying out his "Bharat Jodo Yatra" ("Unite India" march), a 150-day foot journey starting in the southernmost part of the country and which will end in Jammu and Kashmir. He began the journey on September 9 to garner support for the party.