Mallikarjun Kharge

Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (born 21 July 1942) is an Indian politician from Indian National Congress and the Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha He is the former Minister of Railways and Minister of Labour and Employment in the Government of India. Kharge is a member of the Indian National Congress (INC)[1] and was a Member of Parliament for Gulbarga, Karnataka during 2009-2019.. [2] He is a senior Karnataka politician and was the Leader of opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He was the President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee during the 2008 Karnataka State Assembly Elections.

Mallikarjun Kharge
Kharge in 2017
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 12 June 2020
Preceded by	Rajeev Gowda
General Secretary of AICC for Maharashtra
Incumbent
Assumed office 22 June 2018
President	Rahul Gandhi
Leader of Indian National Congress, Lok Sabha
In office 4 June 2014 – 16 June 2019
Succeeded by	Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury
[ (India)
In office 17 June 2013 – 26 May 2014
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	C. P. Joshi
Succeeded by	D. V. Sadananda Gowda
Minister of Labour and Employment
In office 29 May 2009 – 16 June 2013
Prime Minister	Manmohan Singh
Preceded by	Oscar Fernandes
Succeeded by	Sis Ram Ola
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 31 May 2009 – 23 May 2019
Preceded by	Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi
Succeeded by	Umesh. G. Jadhav
Constituency	Gulbarga
President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee
In office 2005–2008
Preceded by	Janardhan Poojary
Succeeded by	R. V. Deshpande
Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Karnataka
In office 1972–2008
Preceded by	N. Yenkappa
Succeeded by	Baburao Chinchansur
Constituency	Gurmitkal
In office 2008–2009
Preceded by	Vishwanath Patil Hebbal
Succeeded by	Valmiki Naik
Constituency	Chittapur
Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
In office 19 December 1996 – 07 July 1999
Preceded by	B. S. Yediyurappa
Succeeded by	Jagadish Shettar
In office 05 June 2008 – 28 May 2009
Preceded by	B. S. Yediyurappa
Succeeded by	Siddaramaiah
Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of Karnataka
In office 1999–2004
Chief Minister	S. M. Krishna
Minister of Rural Development, Government of Karnataka
In office 1978–1980
In office 1990–1992
Minister of Revenue, Government of Karnataka
In office 1980–1983
Chief Minister	Gundu Rao
In office 1990–1992
Chief Minister	Bangarappa
Personal details
Born	(1942-07-21) 21 July 1942 Warwatti, Hyderabad State, British India (now in Karnataka, India)
Political party	Indian National Congress
Spouse(s)	Radhabai Kharge
Children	5
Alma mater	Government College, Gulbarga Gulbarga University

He has won elections for a record 10 consecutive times having won the Assembly elections for an unprecedented 9 consecutive times (1972, 1979, 1983, 1985, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2008, 2009) and lost in the 2019 General Elections against Umesh Jadhav from Gulbarga. Mallikarjun Kharge was the leader of the congress party in Lok Sabha during 2014-2019.[3]

In the 2019 indian general election he was defeated by Umesh Jadhav of BJP in Kalburgi Loksabha constituency by a margin of 95,168 votes.[4] Kharge has been known as one of the strongest leader of the Congress Party.In June 2019 Rahul Gandhi stepped downed as Congress President and Kharge was the front runner for the post,But later Sonia Gandhi emerged as the party president.

On 8th June 2020 Kharge filed his nominations for Rajya Sabha. D. K. Shivakumar,Siddaramaiah and other leaders were present

Mallikarjun Kharge files Nomination for Rajya Sabha

On 12th June 2020 Kharge was elected (unopposed) to Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, at the age of 78 years. [5]

Early life and background

Mallikarjun Kharge was born in the Warwatti, Bhalki Taluk, Bidar District, Karnataka to Mapanna Kharge and Sabavva.[6] 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.[6] He started his legal practise as a junior in Justice Shivaraj Patil's office and fought cases for labour unions early in his legal career.[7]

Political career

Early career

Kharge started his political career as a student union leader while in the Government College, Gulbarga when he was elected as the General Secretary of the students' body. In 1969, he became the legal advisor to the MSK Mills Employees' Union. He was also an influential labour union leader of Samyukta Majdoor Sangha and led many agitations fighting for the rights of labourers.[8] In 1969, he joined the Indian National Congress and became President of the Gulbarga City Congress Committee

Political career

He first contested for the Karnataka State Assembly elections in 1972 and won from Gurmitkal constituency. In 1973, he was appointed as the Chairman of the Octroi Abolition Committee which went into the question of revitalising the economy of the municipal and civic bodies in the state of Karnataka. Based on its report, the then Devaraj Urs government abolished the levy of octroi at multiple points.[9] In 1974, he was appointed as the Chairman of state-owned Leather Development Corporation and worked to improve the living conditions of thousands of cobblers who were indulging in the leather tanning industry. Work sheds cum residences were built across the state for their benefit during this time. In 1976, he was appointed as the Minister of State for Primary Education, during which time, over 16,000 backlog vacancies of SC/STs teachers were filled up by recruiting them directly into the service. Grants under grant-in-aid code were given to schools run by SC/ST managements for the first time.[10]

In 1978, he was elected for the second time as MLA from Gurmitkal constituency and was appointed as Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the Devaraj Urs ministry. In 1980, he became the Minister for Revenue in the Gundu Rao Cabinet. During this time, the focus was on effective land reforms, resulting in giving occupancy rights to millions of land-less tillers and labourers. More than 400 land tribunals were constituted to expedite the transfer of land rights to the tillers.[11] In 1983, he was elected for the third time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal.In 1985, he was elected for the fourth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal and was appointed as the Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly.

In 1989, he was elected for the fifth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal. In 1990, he joined Bangarappa’s Cabinet as the Minister for Revenue, Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, portfolios he had held earlier and brought about significant change. Restarting the Land Reforms process that had stopped in the interim, resulted in hundreds of thousands of acres of land being registered in the name of the landless tillers.[12]

Between 1992 and 1994, he was the Minister for Co-operation, Medium and Large Industries in the Veerappa Moily Cabinet. In 1994, he was elected for the sixth time to the Karnataka Assembly from Gurmitkal and became the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly. In 1999, he was elected for the seventh time to the Karnataka Assembly and was a front-runner to the post of Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became Minister for Home in the S. M. Krishna Cabinet during a particularly trying time for Karnataka especially the Rajkumar kidnap by the notorious poacher Veerappan and the Cauvery Riots. In 2004, he was elected for the eighth consecutive time to the Karnataka Assembly and was once again considered a front-runner to the post of the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became the Minister for Transport and Water Resources in the Dharam Singh-led coalition government.

In 2005, he was appointed as the President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. In the Panchayat elections held soon after, Congress won the largest number of seats compared to BJP and JD(S) indicating a revival of the Congress fortunes in the rural areas of Karnataka.[13] In 2008, he was elected for the record ninth consecutive time to the Assembly from Chitapur. Though the Congress party put up a better show when compared to the 2004 elections, the Congress lost the elections with a majority of the senior leaders losing. He was appointed as the Leader of the Opposition for the second time in 2008. In 2009, Kharge contested the general elections from Gulbarga Parliamentary Constituency and won his tenth consecutive election.[14]

In the 2014 general elections, Kharge contested and won from the Gulbarga parliamentary seat, beating his closest rival from the BJP by over 73,000 votes.[15] In June, he was appointed as the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha.[16] He passed innocuous racial remarks against North Indians in Parliament, by saying "aap bahar se aye hain…ye Aryan jitney bhi hain, wo bahar se aye hain (English: You Aryans have come from outside)". He was speaking as the leader of the Congress party during debate on 125th birth anniversary of Ambedkar. [17]

Mallikarjun Kharge contested the 2019 general elections against Umesh. G. Jadhav, a BJP candidate, in Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka. Jadhav defeated Mallikarjun Kharge by a margin of 95,452 votes. Jadhav polled 6,20,192 votes while Kharge got only 5,24,740 votes.[18] He Played A Major Roll In Formation Of Government In Maharashtra In 2019 .He Was Elected To Rajyasabha Unopposed In Year 2020 From Karnataka

Philanthropic and social activities

He is the Founder-Chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust that has built the Buddha Vihar in Gulbarga, India.[19]

He is the Patron of Chowdiah Memorial Hall which is one of the premier concert and theatre venues in Bangalore and helped the centre get over its debts and aided the centre's plans for renovation.[20]

Personal life

Mallikarjun Kharge is married to Radhabai and has two daughters and three sons.[6][21] In 2006, Kharge said he worshipped Buddha, but did not plan to embrace Buddhism.[22]

References

1. "Spectacular rise for Kharge". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
2. "ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಘಟಾನುಘಟಿ ನಾಯಕರಿಗೆ ಹೀನಾಯ ಸೋಲು". Dailyhunt. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
3. "Team Manmohan". Indian Express.
4. "ರಾಜ್ಯದ ಘಟಾನುಘಟಿ ನಾಯಕರಿಗೆ ಹೀನಾಯ ಸೋಲು". Dailyhunt. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
5. "Kharge elected (unopposed) to Rajya Sabha". Deccan Herald.
6. "Detailed Profile". Government of India. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
7. "Early life of Kharge". Press Journal Kharge. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
8. "Friends, teachers laud Kharge". Indian Express.
9. "Kharge on octroi during 1973 period". The Hindu. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
10. "Early political career" (PDF). Department of Parliamentary Affairs & Legislation. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
11. "Kharge as Chairman of State-owned Leather Development Corporation" (PDF). cag.gov.in. Indian Audit and Accounts Department. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
12. "Kharge performance in Karnataka" (PDF). Election Commission of India. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
13. "Congress scores big win in local polls". Indian Express.
14. Phukan, Sandip (3 June 2014). "Mallikarjun Kharge consecutive win". NDTV. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
15. "Gulbarga(Karnataka) Lok Sabha Election Results 2019 -Gulbarga Parliamentary Constituency, Winning MP and Party Name".
16. "Sonia picks Mallikarjun Kharge over 'unwilling' Rahul as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha". 3 June 2014.
17. "Watch Congress' Kharge brings up the Aryan invasion in Parliament".
18. "Shocking! Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge defeated by BJP's Umesh Jadhav in Gulbarga election results 2019". www.timesnownews.com. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
19. "About Buddha Vihar, Gulbarga". Buddha vihar Gulbarga.
20. "A grand bow to the arts". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1 July 2005.
21. "Personal life of Mallikarjun Kharge". Business Standard. 3 June 2014. Archived from the original on 3 June 2014. Retrieved 5 June 2014.CS1 maint: BOT: original-url status unknown (link)
22. "Hundreds embrace Buddhism in Gulbarga | Bengaluru News - Times of India". The Times of India. 15 October 2006. Retrieved 9 December 2019.

Lok Sabha
Preceded by Iqbal Ahmed Saradgi	Member of Parliament for Gulbarga 2009 – 2019	Succeeded by Umesh. G. Jadhav
Political offices
Preceded by Oscar Fernandes	Minister of Labour and Employment 2009–2013	Succeeded by Sis Ram Ola
Preceded by CP Joshi	Minister of Railways 2013–2014	Succeeded by DV Sadananda Gowda
Party political offices
Preceded by Janardhana Poojary	President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee 2005 - 2008	Succeeded by R. V. Deshpande
Preceded by Sushilkumar Shinde	Leader of the Indian National Congress in the Lok Sabha 2014 – 2019	Succeeded by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury