# Kharge ‘hurt’ over lack of support from Congress colleagues 2026-08-20T14:22:50+00:00 | Politics | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 3 independent outlets Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge expressed disappointment during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Wednesday that several senior party leaders did not strongly back him after a 'shuddhikaran' (purification) ceremony was held at the venue of his rally in Haldwani, Uttarakhand. According to Livemint, Kharge said he felt 'hurt' that all CWC members, especially those 'good-looking people' who get media space, did not speak about the issue. The Federal reported that Kharge took a light-hearted dig, saying 'jo likhte achcha hain aur dikhte achcha hain' (those who write well and look good) remained silent. At the meeting, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the party did condemn the incident. But Kharge's body language suggested he was not convinced, Livemint added. The CWC also decided to abide by the 1937 resolution on Vande Mataram, singing only two stanzas at party events. The party demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the purification row. The BJP has denied any links to the Shri Ram Sena group that performed the ritual and accused the Congress of politicising the issue. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The three sources uniformly report Kharge's expression of hurt and the party's condemnation of the purification event, but differ in framing emphasis. Livemint and Deccan Herald lead with Kharge's personal grievance about lack of support, focusing on internal party dynamics. The Federal, carrying a PTI wire story, gives more weight to Kharge's call for aggressive action on caste discrimination and the party's demand for a PM apology, framing it as a political offensive. The middle ground is that Kharge's complaint serves dual purposes: airing frustration at internal passivity while rallying the party against the BJP. Watch for whether Congress follows through on its demand for a PM apology or shifts focus to internal discipline. ## Coverage Coverage: 3 sources, 1 government-critical, 2 neutral - livemint.com (neutral report) Leads with Kharge being 'hurt' and internal dissent, but reports party's condemnation and BJP denial without slant - thefederal.com (government critical) Highlights Kharge's attack on BJP and demand for PM apology, uses PTI wire framing critical of ruling party - deccanherald.com (neutral report) Focuses on Kharge's lack of support and CWC condemnation, but gives minimal space to political attack This story was synthesised by AI from the 3 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 3 sources. Last updated 2026-08-20T17:21:16+00:00. Tags: BJP, Congress Working Committee, KC Venugopal, Mallikarjun Kharge, shuddhikaran, Uttarakhand Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/kharge-hurt-by-lack-of-support-from-cwc-colleagues-on-purification-row/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/kharge-hurt-by-lack-of-support-from-cwc-colleagues-on-purification-row/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/