Ten lesser-known facts about Mallikarjuna Kharge

Congress veteran and leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, 80-year-old Mapanna Mallikarjuna Kharge is likely to be elected the next party president. If Kharge does bag the post, he will be the first non-Nehru-Gandhi family member to hold the position in 25 years, after Sitaram Kesari. 

Here are 10 lesser-known facts about Kharge 

Origin 

The Kharge family hails from Warawatti in Bhalki taluk of Bidar district, which falls in the old Hyderabad–Karnataka region, which was formerly ruled by the Nizams. When he was just seven, the Kharge family was forced to move to neighbouring Kalburgi (formerly Gulbarga) district, after an outbreak communal violence, in which several members of his immediate family, including his mother, lost their lives. This event is said to have shaped his views on communalism and inter-faith relations, making him staunchly ‘secular.’ 

Political entry

Said to be an average student academcially, Kharge always had a taste for politics, and was involved in student union political activity at the government college in Kalburgi. While studying for his law degree at the Seth Shankarlal Lahoti College, Kharge worked in a cinema theatre to support himself, according to a veteran journalist, who is now a media advisor to a former CM of Karnataka. Kharge was active in taking up labour related cases to help labour unions. He practiced under Shivaraj Patil, who eventually became a judge of the Supreme Court of India. 

Also read

Tharoor files nomination for Congress president poll

Hectic discussions on to resolve crisis ahead of Congress prez poll

It’s Gandhis-backed Kharge v/s Tharoor in race for Congress chief post

Solilada Sardara (Undefeated Chieftain) 

Of the 12 elections he has contested, Kharge lost only once - in 2019. He was elected to the Karnataka assembly nine times consecutively, between 1972 and 2008. Eight of the victories came from the Gurmitkal constitutency, when it was reserved for Scheduled Castes, and once from Chitapur. He also won from the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency in 2009 and 2014, earning him the sobriquet of Solilada Sardara. 

Eternal CM-in-waiting 

Inspite of nine consecutive assembly victories, the Karnataka CM’s chair has eluded Kharge thrice. First, in 1999 when S M Krishna pipped him to the post, the second time in 2004 when his close friend Dharam Singh became the consensus candidate to head a Congress–Janata Dal (Secular) coalition, and the third time in 2013, when Siddaramiah edged him out of the race. However, he has held several ministerial positions in the state government, and has been the leader of the opposition as well as the KPCC President. 

Family life

 Kharge was born to Mapanna and Saibavva and is married to Radhabai. He has three sons – Priyank, Rahul and Milind, and two daughters, Priyadarshini and Jayashree. Except for his son Priyank, who is a Congress MLA and a former Karnataka minister, all his other children maintain a low profile, with his other two sons being businessmen. Associates say his children names were inspired by the Nehru-Gandhi family members. 

Buddhist–Rationalist 

He has often attracted the ire of the Sangh-Parivar for denouncing Sanatana Dharma. Kharge has several times declared that he is a follower of Buddha and Ambedkar, even as he has accused the RSS and BJP of trying to foist caste system. The Congress leader has insisted that he should be judged for his competence and gets angry when asked whether him being a Dalit has been a factor in his rise. BJP has pointed out that Kharge has always contested from reserved constituencies and that he gave up the Gurmitkal seat, which had elected him eight times, after it was de-reserved and moved to neighbouring Chittapur.   

Dynasty & controversies 

While only one of his five children is active in politics, Kharge is accused of fostering a new dynasty. After winning the newly reserved Chittapur seat in 2008, he passed it onto Priyank, who lost it in 2008, but won the seat in both the 2013 and 2018 assembly polls. Kharge was accused of lobbying heavily to have his son made a minister in the then Siddaramiah-led Congress government. 

The Congress leader is seen as relatively free of controversies, apart from an incident involving the illegal allotment of a piece of land to one of his daughters by a housing society, which was subsequently returned. 

Sports champion, patron of arts & a polyglot

In his younger days, Kharge was a keen player of kabbadi, hockey and football, winning many district level accolades. The well-built Kharge was said to have been a daring raider in kabbadi matches. He retains a strong interest in those sports, apart from the national pastime of cricket.

Kharge is also said to have played a key role in helping Chowdiah memorial hall in Bengaluru - a centre for performing arts - to grow and stabilise as the Chairman of its trust. He also encourages talent from the backward Kalyana Karnataka region of the state through his Siddarth Vihar trust. Kharge is also a polyglot, who can speak many languages, including Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Marathi, Telugu, and English, apart from a smattering of other regional langauages, too. 

Defeated by his own election agent

 The only time Kharge tasted defeat at the hustings was in the Modi wave of 2019, when the BJP won 25 of the 28 Lok Sabha constitutencies in Karnataka. Kharge was defeated by his former protégé Umesh Jadhav, who used to be his election agent and had become a legislator, but had subsequently defected to the BJP. This is a defeat that rankles Kharge, who has repeatedly said it was a defeat for the principles and ideology he stood, and not a personal setback. 

Second Congress President from Karnataka 

If he wins, Kharge would be the second president of the Congress party from Karnataka, after S Nijalingappa in the mid-1960’s. Also, it would mean that two senior positions at the highest echelons of the Congress party would be occupied by Kannadigas. B V Srinivas already heads the Youth Congress and if Kharge wins the presidency, it would be an additional feather in the cap for the party in Karnataka, which goes to the polls in the next six months.