Mallikarjun Kharge, born on July 21, 1942, hails from Varawatti, Bhalki Taluk, Bidar district, Karnataka. He completed his education at Nutan Vidyalaya in Gulbarga before pursuing a bachelor’s in arts at Government College and a law degree at Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College in the same city. Early in his legal career, he fought lawsuits for labour organisations and began his practise as a junior in Justice Shivaraj Patil’s office.
When he was a student at the Government College in Gulbarga, Kharge began his political career by becoming the General Secretary of the student body. In 1969, he became the MSK Mills Employees’ Union’s legal counsel. He was also a powerful labour union leader for Samyukta Majdoor Sangha and organised numerous agitations to support labourers’ rights. Furthermore, he joined the Indian National Congress in 1969 and became the president of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee. He was even appointed as the Minister of State for Primary Education, in 1976.
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Moreover, in 1978, Kharge won the assembly election from Gurmitkal, becoming the MLA for the second time, and was appointed as a cabinet minister in the Devraj Urs government of Karnataka. Furthermore, in 1980, Kharge again became minister in Gundu Rao cabinet. Furthermore, in 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994 and 1999, he continuously won the assembly election from Gurmitkal assembly, and even served as the home minister of Karnataka in the SM Krishna government.
Kharge became the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in 2005 and in 2008, he won the assembly election from Chitapur and became an MLA for the ninth time. Furthermore, in 2009, he contested the general elections from Gulbarga Parliamentary seat and won his tenth consecutive election! In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Kharge again won from this parliamentary seat with more than 73,000 votes.
However, in the Modi wave of 2019, Kharge “lost” to BJP’s Umesh G. Jadhav by more than 95,000 votes. Subsequently, he was elected unopposed to Rajya Sabha in June 2020 and appointed as the leader of the opposition in Rajya Sabha, in February 2021.
Now, Mallikarjun Kharge, 80, is all set to become the new national president of the Indian National Congress. However, the results are not out yet, but it’s clear that it will be an easy win for Mallikarjun Kharge over his contender Shashi Tharoor. Moreover, Kharge has a close bond with the Gandhi family, and is one of the most senior and experienced leaders in the grand-old-party.
However, with the upcoming assembly elections in Gujarat, Himachal in 2022, and Karnataka (Kharge’s home state), Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in 2023, the path for the next Congress president is full of challenges. These elections will lay an impact on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
