Won 11 out of 12 elections; Know who is the new chief of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge?

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mallikarjun-kharge

New Delhi: The results of the election for the post of Congress President have been announced and Mallikarjun Kharge has become the new captain of the Congress party. While Mallikarjun Kharge got 7897 votes in the election for the post of Congress President, Shashi Tharoor got about 1000 votes. In this way, Kharge defeated Tharoor by almost 8 times more votes. Mallikarjun Kharge has become the second Dalit leader to become the Congress President. Earlier in 1971, Jagjivan Ram became the Congress President. Even though Kharge is from the southern Indian state of Karnataka, he speaks good Hindi. Mallikarjun Kharge has been an MLA for nine consecutive terms. Not only this, even when the veterans were losing in the Modi wave in the 2014 elections, Kharge waved the flag of victory. Although he lost the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.

From press conferences to Parliament, Kharge keeps his words mostly in Hindi. Born on 21 July 1942, Mallikarjun Kharge was in the profession of advocacy before joining politics. He was born in a poor family in Karnataka and did his graduation and law. Mallikarjun Kharge is the second person from Karnataka to hold the post of Congress President. Earlier, S Nijalingappa of Karnataka had been the Congress President.

Kharge is considered loyal to the Gandhi family
80-year-old Mallikarjun Kharge, who became MLA for 9 consecutive terms, has been active in politics for more than 50 years. He is considered a loyalist of Gandhi-Nehru and has recently resigned from the post of Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha. Mallikarjun Kharge belongs to the Mahadalit community. If we talk about his politics, he used to practice only before. Before joining the Congress, Kharge joined the Republican Party of India (RPI) inspired by Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Student union started
However, Kharge started his political career as a student union leader. He was elected as the General Secretary of the Students’ Union at Government College Gulbarga. In 1969, he became the legal advisor of MSK Mills Employees Union. He was also an influential labor union leader of the United Mazdoor Sangh and led several movements fighting for workers’ rights. In 1969 he joined the Indian National Congress and became the President of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee.

Kharge has been MLA for nine consecutive terms
Kharge first contested the Karnataka state assembly election in 1972 and won from the Gurmitkal constituency. In 1976, he was appointed Minister of State for Primary Education. In 1978, he was elected MLA from the Gurmitkal constituency for the second time and was appointed Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj. In 1980, he became the Revenue Minister in the Gundu Rao cabinet. In 1983, he was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the third time from Gurmitkal. In 1985, he won the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for the fourth time from Gurmitkal and was appointed Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. In 1989, he also managed to win for the fifth time from Gurmitkal. Similarly, in 2004, Kharge won the assembly elections for the eighth time in a row. In 2005, he was appointed as the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. In 2008, he was elected to the assembly from Chitapur for the ninth consecutive time. Kharge was appointed the Leader of the Opposition for the second time in 2008. In 2009, Kharge contested the Lok Sabha elections from Gulbarga parliamentary constituency and won his tenth consecutive election.

Kharge did not lose even in the Modi wave
Despite the Modi wave, Kharge contested and won from Gulbarga parliamentary seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. He defeated his nearest BJP rival by over 13,404 votes. In June, he was appointed the leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha. However, Kharge could not win in 2019 and was defeated by BJP candidate G Madhav by a margin of around 95 thousand votes. After this, on 12 June 2020, Kharge was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka. Kharge was appointed the Leader of the Opposition in February 2021. He has held the portfolios of Labor and Employment, Railways, and Social Justice and Empowerment in the UPA government as a Union Cabinet Minister.

Kharge lost his mother at the age of 7
Mallikarjun Kharge lost his mother and some family members at the age of 7. Due to communal tension, he had to leave his birthplace and shift to the neighboring district of Kalburgi, which was earlier called Gulbarga. He also did a job in a cinema theater to cover the cost of his studies. He has won 11 times in the last 12 elections. He went on to become the Chief Minister thrice. He has knowledge of 6 languages. Kharge married Radhabai on 13 May 1968 and they have two daughters and three sons.

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