From labour union leader to 'solilada sardara': 10 things to know about Mallikarjun Kharge

 

Mallikarjun Kharge only lost one election in his career – in 2019, to his former poll agent. In 1999, 2004 and 2013, he was considered as the top contender for the Karnakata CM post but he never became a CM.

As the Congress is all set to get its first president outside the Gandhi family in 24 years as the counting for the historic vote begins at 10am, both Mallikarjun Kharge and Shashi Tharoor stand a fair chance. The result of the election will be known between 3pm to 4pm. Mallikarjun Kharge is seen as the favourite and is likely to win to contest becoming the Congress president.

Here are 10 things to know about the 80-year-old veteran leader who spent over 50 years in the party.

1. If Mallikarjun Kharge wins the election and becomes the president of the party, he will be the second Dalit Congress chief. The first Dalit chief was Jagjivan Ram.

2. Kharge will also be the second Congress president from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa who became the president in 1968.

3. Kharge was born in 1942 in Bidar.Mallikarjun Kharge entered politics when he was in college -- studying for his law degree at Seth Shankarlal Lahoti College.

4. Then he went on to become a labour union leader. Kharge's entry to Congress was in 1969 and he became the president of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee

5. Kharge is called 'solilada sardara' which means a warrior who knows no defeat because of his electoral record. He contested 12 elections (both assembly and Lok Sabha) and lost only one -- in 2019. He was defeated by BJP's Umesh Jadhav by a margin of 95,452 votes. Umesh used to be Kharge's election agent once upon a time

6. However, he could not ever become the chief minister though he was the top contender several times. In 1999, 2004 and 2013, Mallikarjun Kharge was close to the chair but had to make way for other candidates.

7. Mallikarjun Kharge held the portfolios of the railway minister and labour minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He was the leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha the post which he had to vacate to contest the election.

8. Kharge has three sons and two daughters -- Priyank, Rahul, Milind, Priyadarshini and Jayashree.

9. Kharge declared several times to be a follower of Buddhism.

10. Kharge knows many languages. He can speak Hindu, Urdu, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu and English.