# Mallikarjun Kharge

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (Kannada:; born 21 July 1942) is an Indian lawyer and politician serving as the President of the Indian National Congress since 2022 and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha since 2021. He has been a Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka since 2020.
He began his career in state politics, serving as a member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Gurmitkal Assembly constituency from 1972 to 2008 and from Chittapur Assembly constituency from 2008 to 2009. Kharge served as the leader of the opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1996 to 1999, president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee from 2005 to 2008, and as a minister in many portfolios under various chief ministers.
Kharge joined national politics when he was elected as the Member of Parliament for Gulbarga, Karnataka, serving from 2009 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. He was also a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee, incharge for Maharashtra, from 2018 to 2020. He was also the chairperson of Public Accounts Committee in 16th Lok Sabha from 2016 to 2019. After being elected a member of the Rajya Sabha for Karnataka in 2020 following his defeat in the 2019 Indian general election, he defeated Shashi Tharoor in the 2022 Indian National Congress presidential election to succeed Sonia Gandhi. Under his presidency, the Congress gained 99 seats in the 2024 Indian general election, forming the official opposition for the first time since 2014. He is a close ally of the Gandhi family.

## Early life and background

Mallikarjun Kharge was born on 21 July 1942 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 of the Nizam of Hyderabad, while he himself had a narrow escape at the age of 7. 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. 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.

## Political career

Kharge began his political career in state politics, being elected as the MLA for Gurmitkal Assembly constituency and Chittapur Assembly constituency consecutively from 1972 to 2008. During his tenure in state politics, he served as a minister in the ministries of S. M. Krishna, Veerappa Moily, Sarekoppa Bangarappa, and R. Gundu Rao, in many prominent portfolios including the Home and Revenue ministries. In opposition, Kharge served as the leader of the opposition on two occasions and led the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee into the 2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election as KPCC president, gaining 15 seats for the party and finishing second. He resigned from the legislature in 2009 to run for the Lok Sabha.
Kharge was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 the general election from Gulbarga. This was his tenth consecutive election victory.
In the 2014 general elections, Kharge was elected from Gulbarga, beating Revunaik Belamagih from the BJP with a margin of 13,404 votes. In June, he was appointed the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha.
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.
On 12 June 2020 Kharge was elected (unopposed) to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, at the age of 78 years. On 12 February 2021, Kharge was appointed Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha.
Kharge notably has been appointed an observer by the INC for multiple states in the past, including Assam in 2014, Punjab in 2021, and Rajasthan in 2022. 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.
He is known for his record of defeating all his opposition candidates in his lifetime career except one. In 2023, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Lokmat's Parliamentary Awards.

### President of the Indian National Congress
#### Election

On 1 October 2022, he filed nominations to contest the INC party presidential polls and won with 7897 votes. He was the first INC President not from the Gandhi family in 24 years. In the first 2 years of his presidency, the Congress formed governments in Himachal Pradesh in 2022, Telangana in 2023, and forming a coalition in Jharkhand in 2024, while losing power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in 2023. The Congress opted out of Omar Abdullah’s government in Jammu Kashmir after it sought two ministries but was offered only one even though both parties contested election in alliance. It had won just six of the 39 seats it contested in the state.

#### 2024 general election

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. However, other senior leaders of the alliance such a Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Lalu Yadav disapproved the proposal.

## Electoral performances

| Year | Election | Party | Constituency Name | Result | Votes gained | Vote share% | Margin |
| 1972 | Mysore Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 16,796 | 62.68%% | 9,440 |
| 1978 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 30,380 | 64.99% | 16,599 |
| 1983 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 30,933 | 67.65% | 16,143 |
| 1985 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 32,669 | 66% | 17,673 |
| 1989 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 39,608 | 64.23% | 19,969 |
| 1994 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 42,588 | 58.76% | 19,336 |
| 1999 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 54,569 | 76.76% | 47,124 |
| 2004 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 37,006 | 45.99% | 18,547 |
| 2008 | Karnataka Legislative Assembly | INC | Gurmitkal | Won | 49,837 | 52.13% | 17,442 |
| 2009 | 15th Lok Sabha | INC | Gulbarga | Won | 3,45,241 | 45.46% | 13,404 |
| 2014 | 16th Lok Sabha | INC | Gulbarga | Won | 5,07,193 | 50.83% | 74,733 |
| 2019 | 17th Lok Sabha | INC | Gulbarga | Lost | 5,24,740 | 44.08% | 95,452 |

## Positions held

| Year | Description |
| 1972–1978 | Elected to 5th Mysore Assembly (1st Term) Minister of State for Primary and Secondary Education (1976-1978) |
| 1978–1983 | Elected to 6th Karnataka Assembly (2nd Term) Cabinet Minister for Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (1979-1980) Cabinet Minister for Revenue (1980-83) |
| 1983–1985 | Elected to 7th Karnataka Assembly (3rd Term) Secretary, Congress Legislature Party |
| 1985–1989 | Elected to 8th Karnataka Assembly (4th Term) Deputy Leader of Opposition |
| 1989–1994 | Elected to 9th Karnataka Assembly (5th Term) Cabinet Minister for Revenue, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj (1990-1992) Cabinet Minister for Co-operation, Medium and Large Industries (1992-1994) |
| 1994–1999 | Elected to 10th Karnataka Assembly (6th Term) Leader of Opposition (1996-99) |
| 1999–2004 | Elected to 11th Karnataka Assembly (7th Term) Cabinet Minister for Home, Infrastructure Development and Minor Irrigation (1999-2004) |
| 2004–2008 | Elected to 12th Karnataka Assembly (8th Term) Cabinet Minister for Water Resources and Transport (2004-2006) |
| 2008–2009 | Elected to 13th Karnataka Assembly (9th Term) Leader of Opposition (2008-2009) |
| 2009–2014 | Elected to 15th Lok Sabha (1st Term) Union Minister for Labour and Employment (31 May 2009–17 June 2013) Union Minister for Railways and Social Justice and Empowerment (17 June 2013-26 May 2014) |
| 2014–2019 | Elected to 16th Lok Sabha (2nd Term) Leader of the Congress Parliamentary Party Member, Business Advisory Committee (2014–2019) Member, Standing Committee on Home Affairs (2014–2019) Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Maintenance of Heritage Character and Development of Parliament House Complex (2014–2019) Member of National Committee (NC) for commemorating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (2014–2019) Member, General Purposes Committee (2015–2019) Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Defence (2015–2019) Chairperson, Public Accounts Committee (2017–2019) Member, Committee on Budget of Lok Sabha (2017–2019) |
| 2020–Present | Elected to Rajya Sabha (1st Term) Leader of the Opposition, Rajya Sabha (2021-Present) President of the Indian National Congress (2022-Present) |

## Personal life

Kharge married Radhabai on 13 May 1968; they have 2 daughters and 3 sons. Kharge is a polyglot and can speak English, Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi. His son Priyank Kharge is an MLA from the Chittapur assembly constituency, and his son-in-law Radhakrishna is an MP from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, Kharge's former seat in the Lok Sabha.
He is the Founder-Chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust that has built the Buddha Vihar in Gulbarga, India. 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.