Bengaluru: Visibly irked by persistent queries over his possible return to state politics, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha M. Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday dropped enough hints that he was not in the race for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president’s post at this juncture.

Speaking to reporters at his residence here, Mr Kharge shot back, “I do not know, who has told you about my return to state politics. My track record is very clean, I am not the one to derail anyone or try to usurp someone’s chance. I always abide by the orders of the high command in letter and spirit, hence, there is no chance of me becoming Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president.”

In the same breath, Mr Kharge added that he has neither applied for any post in the state nor was waiting for anyone to recommend his name. “I am not even interested in getting involved in discussions about this appointment. Our party is not like Bharatiya Janata Party, where one or two leaders take decisions and implement it. Ours is an elaborate process where a lot of discussion takes place before the final decision is arrived at. I am not the final solution for every problem our state faces. There are several capable leaders who can take decisions and implement it,” the leader snapped.

His son and Minister of State for Information Technology and Bio-Technology Priyank Kharge was more forthcoming and stated that no discussion seems to have taken place in New Delhi on this issue. “I think this story was generated locally just to add some more confusion to the already existing confusion over the post,” Mr Priyank Kharge said.