Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha
Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (Kannada: [malːikaːrd͡ʒun kʰɐrɡe]; born 21 July 1942) is an Indian lawyer and politician serving as the President of the Indian National Congress since 2022,[1] and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha since 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2020.
He was the chairperson of Public Accounts Committee in 16th Lok Sabha from 2016 to 2019. During the UPA 2 government, he served as the Minister of Railways from 2013 to 2014 and Minister of Labour and Employment from 2009 to 2013 in the Union Cabinet. Kharge was a Member of Parliament for Gulbarga, Karnataka from 2009 to 2019. He was also general secretary of All India Congress Committee and incharge for Maharashtra from 2018 to 2020.
He is a senior Karnataka politician and was the Leader of opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 1999. He was the President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee from 2005 to 2008. He was a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Gurmitkal Assembly constituency from 1972 to 2008 and from Chittapur Assembly constituency from 2008 to 2009 and Ministry of home affairs, Government of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and Rural development from 1978 to 1980. He defeated Shashi Tharoor in the 2022 Indian National Congress presidential election.
He is known for his record of defeating all his opposition candidates in his lifetime career except one.[2]
Early life and background
Mallikarjun Kharge was born in the Varawatti, Bhalki Taluk, Bidar district, Karnataka in a Dalit family to Saibavva and Mapanna Kharge.
In 1948, Kharge lost his mother and sister in a fire set off by the Razakars or the private militia of the Nizam of Hyderabad, while he himself had a narrow escape at the age of 7.[3][4] He finished his schooling from Nutan Vidyalaya in Gulbarga and went on to obtain a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Government College, Gulbarga and his law degree from the Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College in Gulbarga.[5] He started his legal practice as a junior in Justice Shivaraj Patil's office and fought cases for labour unions early in his legal career.[6]
Early political career
Entry into politics
Kharge started his political career as a student union leader while in the Government College, Gulbarga when he was elected as the General Secretary of the students' body. In 1969, he became the legal advisor to the MSK Mills Employees' Union. He was also an influential labour union leader of Samyukta Majdoor Sangha and led many agitations fighting for the rights of labourers.[7] In 1969, he joined the Indian National Congress and became President of the Kalaburagi Town Congress Committee.[8]
Rise in Karnataka's political scene
He first contested the Karnataka State Assembly elections in 1972 and won from Gurmitkal constituency. In 1973, he was appointed the Chairman of the Octroi Abolition Committee which went into the question of revitalising the economy of the municipal and civic bodies in the state of Karnataka. Based on its report, the then Devaraj Urs government abolished the levy of octroi at multiple points.[9] In 1974, he was appointed the Chairman of state-owned Leather Development Corporation and worked to improve the living conditions of thousands of cobblers who were indulging in the leather tanning industry. Work sheds cum residences were built across the state for their benefit during this time. In 1976, he was appointed the Minister of State for Primary Education, during which time, over 16,000 backlog vacancies of SC/STs teachers were filled up by recruiting them directly into the service. Grants under grant-in-aid code were given to schools run by SC/ST managements for the first time.[10]
In 1978, he was elected for the second time as MLA from Gurmitkal constituency and was appointed Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the Devaraj Urs ministry. In 1980, he became the Minister for Revenue in the Gundu Rao Cabinet. During this time, the focus was on effective land reforms, resulting in giving occupancy rights to millions of land-less tillers and labourers. More than 400 land tribunals were constituted to expedite the transfer of land rights to the tillers.[11] In 1983, he was elected for the third time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal. In 1985, he was elected for the fourth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal and was appointed the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly.
In 1989, he was elected for the fifth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal. In 1990, he joined Bangarappa's Cabinet as the Minister for Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, portfolios he had held earlier and brought about significant change. Restarting the Land Reforms process that had stopped in the interim, resulted in hundreds of thousands of acres of land being registered in the name of the landless tillers.[12]
Between 1992 and 1994, he was the Minister for Co-operation, Medium and Large Industries in the Veerappa Moily Cabinet. In 1994, he was elected for the sixth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. In 1999, he was elected for the seventh time to the Karnataka Assembly and was a front-runner to the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became Minister for Home in the S. M. Krishna Cabinet during a particularly trying time for Karnataka especially the Rajkumar kidnap by the notorious poacher Veerappan and the Cauvery Riots. In 2004, he was elected for the eighth consecutive time to the Karnataka Assembly and was once again considered a front-runner to the post of the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became the Minister for Transport and Water Resources in the Dharam Singh-led coalition government.
In 2005, he was appointed the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. In the Panchayat elections held soon after, Congress won the largest number of seats compared to BJP and JD(S) indicating a revival of the Congress fortunes in the rural areas of Karnataka.[13] In 2008, he was elected for the record ninth consecutive time to the Assembly from Chitapur. Though the Congress party put up a better show when compared to the 2004 elections, the Congress lost the elections with a majority of the senior leaders losing. He was appointed the Leader of the Opposition for the second time in 2008.
Role in national politics
In 2009, Kharge contested the general elections from Gulbarga Parliamentary Constituency and won his tenth consecutive election.[14]
In the 2014 general elections, Kharge contested and won from the Gulbarga parliamentary seat, beating Revunaik Belamagih from the BJP with a margin of 74,737 votes.[15] In June, he was appointed the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha.[16]
In the 2019 general elections, Kharge contested from the same parliamentary seat, however this time he lost to Umesh G. Jadhav from the BJP with a margin of 95,452 votes.[15]
On 12 June 2020 Kharge was elected (unopposed) to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, at the age of 78 years.[17] On 12 February 2021, Kharge was appointed Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha.[18]
Kharge notably has been appointed as an observer by the INC for multiple states in the past, including Assam in 2014, Punjab in 2021, and Rajasthan in 2022.[19] He has been criticized for his alleged inability to resolve internal party issues in these three states and therefore causing the loss in Assam and Punjab, and public embarrassment in Rajasthan.[19]
President of the Indian National Congress
Election for president
On 1 October 2022, he filed nominations to contest the INC party presidential polls and won with 7897 votes.[20] He was the first INC President not from the Gandhi family in 24 years.[21]
2024 Indian general elections
Kharge's name was proposed as the prime ministerial candidate of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance for the 2024 general election. The proposal was made by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and was supported by Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.[22] However, other senior leaders of the alliance such a Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Yadav disapproved the proposal.[23]
Personal life
Kharge married Ananya Soni on 13 May 1968 and has 2 daughters and 3 sons.[5][36] Kharge is a polyglot and can speak English, Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi.[8] His son Priyank Kharge is an MLA from the Chittapur assembly constituency.[3]
He is the Founder-Chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust that has built the Buddha Vihar in Gulbarga, India.[37] He is also a patron of the Chowdiah Memorial Hall, a concert and theater venue in Bangalore. He helped the centre get over its debts and aided the centre's plans for renovation.[38]
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