On the last day of nomination for the Congress President’s election, suddenly senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge entered. The party high command took Kharge forward by cutting the leaf of Ashok Gehlot and also sidelining Digvijay Singh. In Kharge’s nomination, 30 Congress leaders became the proposers. That is, the chances of victory are visible from the nomination itself. Kharge was called a day earlier after an important meeting with Sonia Gandhi. Most of the party leaders are standing with Kharge. The full support of the Gandhi family is also visible and in such a situation, it is believed that it is decided to become its president.
Mallikarjun Kharge is survived by wife Radhabai, three daughters and two sons. One of his sons, Priyank Kharge, is an MLA from Chittapur in Kalaburagi district in Karnataka. This is his second term as MLA. At the same time, Kharge’s second son is the owner of Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore, Karnataka.
Kharge is counted among the close and trusted leaders of the Gandhi family. He personally practices Buddhism. Kharge considers himself to be from Karnataka. Although his roots are basically associated with Maharashtra. Kharge speaks and understands Marathi very well. He has a good interest in sports. He especially likes cricket, hockey and football.
Kharge was born in a farming family in Varavatti area of ​​Bidar district in Karnataka. He completed his schooling from Nutan Vidyalaya in Gulbarga and then graduated from a government college there. After doing LLB from Gulbarga’s Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College, Kharge started practicing law.
Kharge started politics with student politics during his college days. In college, he played a long innings in union politics. In 1969, he also became the legal advisor of MSK Mills Employees Union. Then he was an influential leader of the United Mazdoor Sangh. He made a lot of agitations and fought battles for the rights of workers.
In the year 1969 itself, he joined the Congress and in 1972 became an MLA for the first time from the Gurmitkal assembly seat of Karnataka. From here he was elected MLA 9 times. During this time he worked as a minister of various departments in the governments of Gundurao, SM Krishna and Veerappa Moily.
In 2000, when Kharge was the state’s home minister, sandalwood smuggler Veerappan kidnapped Kannada superstar Dr Rajkumar. He was later freed. In the year 2009, he entered national politics and was a Lok Sabha MP from Gulbarga twice. During this, he worked as Labor and Employment Minister and Railway Minister in Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government. At present, he is a member of the Rajya Sabha and the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House.