Cong strength important for national unity, progress: Kharge

CHENNAI: Congress national president Mallikarjuna Kharge on Thursday said that it was important for the Congress to become strong again for national unity and progress.

In a statement issued in Kharge's name by the state party headquarters, he said that for the unity, integrity and progress of the country, it is important that the Congress should become strong once again. "It is only the Congress that can build a modern and progressive India," said Kharge, after paying floral tributes at former PM Rajiv Gandhi's memorial at Sriperumbudur near here in the company of state Congress President KS Alagiri among the senior party leaders in the state. The AICC president who reached Chennai on a two-day visit to attend various functions, mainly 70th birthday celebration of Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Wednesday, floral tributes at former PM Rajiv Gandhi's memorial at Sriperumbudur Thursday morning.

Kharge who visited Tamil Nadu Congress committee headquarters Sathyamurthy Bhavan told media persons earlier in the day that they (Congress) would win the Erode East by poll by a huge margin, which his candidate EVKS Elangovan eventually later in the day. "People are pro DMK-Congress alliance," he said, reacting to his party's lead in the by poll. Asked about the party's poor showing in the three north eastern states, suggested that the parties in the northeast usually go with the union government trends but many leaders were committed to national politics. He also added that the leaders in the northeast support the Congress, secular parties, democracy and Constitution. Later in the day, the AICC president engaged with Dalit activists during an interaction arranged by the state party unit in the city.