Kharge: After 54 years, Cong gets its 2nd party president from Karnataka

After 54 years, a Karnataka leader has made it as president of the Congress. Mallikarjun Kharge won the party election for the top post on Wednesday (October 19), over half a decade after S Nijalingappa had been elected All India Congress Committee (AICC) president, in 1968.

Both these leaders first served the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) before being elevated to the post of AICC president. While Nijalingappa became Karnataka Chief Minister twice, Kharge had been a Union minister in the UPA government and Leader of Opposition in the last Lok Sabha. Kharge did have chief ministerial dreams, but that may not happen now that he has won election to the party’s top job.

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Nijalingappa hailed from the Lingayat community. It was during his tenure as Congress president that the party saw its first major split, after he expelled Indira Gandhi from the party in 1969. With Indira forming Congress (R), a majority of AICC members aligned with her and, with a huge victory in 1971, her faction came to be known as the main Congress. Following the split, Nijalingappa gradually retired from active politics.

A party loyalist

Kharge has become party president at a time when the Congress is struggling electorally and is beset with inner rebellions and contradictions. 

Known as a party loyalist, Kharge hails from a Dalit family. In his five-decade-long career with the Congress, he has been a nine-time MLA, a Lok Sabha MP, a Rajya Sabha MP, a minister in the state government, a Union minister in the UPA government and Leader of Opposition in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The only major post missing in his political career is that of chief minister; now, with the latest elevation, a CM stint is more or less ruled out. 

Kharge, one of the tallest leaders of Karnataka Congress, never tried to take advantage of his Dalit status. He used to insist people call him just a leader, and not a Dalit leader. Some observers feel that because he did not play the Dalit card, he missed out on being Karnataka CM.

Whenever asked about this by the media, Kharge was categorical: “I am not a sanyasi. If I am made the CM, it shall be on merit and on the basis of my leadership. Not because I am a Dalit.”

Early life

Born in 1942 to Mapanna Kharge and Sabavva in Bhalki, a taluk in Bidar district, Kharge lost his mother, sisters and other relatives in a domestic fire mishap when he was six years old. He later shifted to Kalaburagi with his father and did his BA from the Government College there. 

He got a law degree from Kalaburagi’s Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College and displayed his leadership abilities after winning college elections to once become a general secretary and then the vice-president of the college students’ association.

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He started his law practice under Shivaraj Patil, who later became a Supreme Court judge. Kharge focused on labour cases and fought for labour unions. Before entering active politics, he was the legal advisor to the MSK Mill union and a union leader with the Samyukt Mazdoor Association.

Picked by Devraj Urs

He joined the Congress in 1969 and became the president of the party’s Kalaburagi (then Gulbarga) division. He was picked by veteran Congress leader Devaraj Urs, who also was instrumental in bringing Kharge’s close friend Dharam Singh – who later became Karnataka Chief Minister – into the party. In fact, Kharge and Dharam Singh were called the ‘Luv-Kush’ of north Karnataka politics.

Kharge was criticised for lack of development in north Karnataka though he won consecutive terms from there. However, when he was a minister in the UPA government, he was instrumental in providing 371 (J) special status to the six districts of north Karnataka, which helped the region to grow economically and to gain the status of an educational hub.

His administration skills were appreciated by leaders from various political parties when he was the state home minister. As he got along even with his foes, he was also called ‘Ajatashatru’ (one who has no enemies) in political circles.

Also read: No one big or small, all have to work together to strengthen Cong: Kharge

Away from politics, Kharge has, over the years, shown an inclination towards the philosophies of the Buddha, Basaveshwara and Dr Ambedkar. He founded the Siddarth Vihar Trust and built the Buddha Vihar in Kalaburagi. He has also been supporting music and theatre activities and is a patron of Bengaluru’s famous Chowdiah Memorial Hall, which was built in memory of the late T Chowdiah, a violin maestro.