‘In politics Bhakti leads to dictatorship’: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge

On Friday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge paid tribute to B R Ambedkar and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad by visiting their memorials and 'mazaars.'

And after his visit to Ambedkar's memorial, Kharge tweeted a quote from the former law minister and key drafter of the Constitution, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar "In religion, Bhakti may be a path to soul salvation. In politics, however, Bhakti, or hero worship, is a sure path to degradation and, eventually, dictatorship."

 "I have come to pay tribute to people who have fought for society, independence of the country, and especially social equality so that the coming days look brighter and are in the best interests of the country," Kharge was quoted as saying by ANI.

Kharge also visited India's first Education Minister's mazar (grave) to pay floral tributes.

"Floral tributes were paid to Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's mazaar in Delhi. He was a revolutionary freedom fighter and India's first Education Minister who believed in our country's democratic and secular credentials and was strongly opposed to religious partition "Kharge stated this on Twitter.

According to Kharge, the BJP and RSS are "attempting to replace the Baba Saheb's Constitution with the Sangh Constitution," but his Congress will not allow this to happen.

On Wednesday, Kharge paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat before taking over as Congress chairman. At their memorials, he also paid tribute to former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and former Deputy Prime Minister Jagjivan Ram.

On Wednesday, Kharge became the Congress' first non-Gandhi president in 24 years, energizing workers with Rahul Gandhi's "daro mat" slogan and vowing to demolish the government's "system of lies, treachery, and hatred."

Kharge, 80, defeated Shashi Tharoor in the race to succeed Sonia Gandhi as Congress president.