By Sanu K. George
Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 1 (IANS): With the dye now cast for the election to the post of Congress president and for sure from South India, all eyes are not on the presidential candidates - Mallikarjun Kharge and Shahsi Tharoor, but on 81-year-old veteran leader A.K.Antony.
According to sources in the know of things, it was Antony who with his political acumen, managed to get the support of the G23 group in favour of the Gandhi family and got them to sign Kharge's nomination papers.
For Tharoor, Antony has always been 'Antony Chettan' (chettan in Malayalam means elder brother).
Antony is now lock stock and barrel tied up with the Gandhi family which was more than evident when he remarked that Tharoor never mentioned his candidature to him.
The reason for Antony's strong stance is that he knows that the Nehru/Gandhi family happens to be the spinal cord of the party and any aberration to it will weaken the organisation.
He knows that, even though one reason why this political career got a huge boost was when he parted ways with Indira Gandhi and after his return to the party, a few years later, he realised that nothing should weaken the Gandhi family and since then has been its staunchest supporter.
Incidentally, it was only after Antony's Delhi visit a few days back that the official Congress candidate selection became easy and Kharge's name got the nod.
Moreover, it was another Keralite -- AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C.Venugopal who did the initial spadework and was able to get Antony on board for the final kill.
Though Tharoor sprang a surprise when he managed to get 15 leaders from various age groups and factions to ink his nomination paper from Kerala, with 9,100 voters to decide the new president, Kharge at the moment appears to be in pole position.
Tharoor, however, is in no mood to relent as he knows that he has nothing to lose and everything to gain as he has started his journey to solicit votes and will first arrive in Mumbai.
But even though a huge majority of the voters have a soft corner for the Gandhi family, many among them are in a fix trying to decide whether an 80-year-old Kharge rejuvenates the party better and faster than the 66-year-old dynamic personality Tharoor.
It is being observed that the AICC voters in the below-50 age category are cheering for Tharoor and it is to be seen whether he emerges as a dark horse or a black sheep in the
grand-old party.
Interestingly, even Antony's son also is rooting for Tharoor and that could be a sweet revenge of Tharoor to Antony Chettan.