Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge (; born 21 July 1942) is an Indian lawyer and statesman serving as the
President of the Indian National Congress
The national president of the Indian National Congress is the chief executive of the Indian National Congress (INC), one of the principal political parties in India. Constitutionally, the president is elected by an electoral college composed of ...
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
A Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (abbreviated: MP) is the representative of the States and union territories of India, Indian states to the upper house of the Parliament of India which is known as "Rajya Sabha" (constitutionally "Cou ...
from
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
since
2020
The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...
.
He began his career in state politics, serving as a member of the
Karnataka Legislative Assembly
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...
Karnataka Legislative Assembly
The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
, serving from 2009 to 2019. During the UPA 2 government, he served as the Minister of Railways from 2013 to 2014 and Minister of Labour and Employment from 2009 to 2013 in the Union Cabinet. He was also a general secretary of the
All India Congress Committee
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from States and union territories of India, state-level Pradesh Congress Commit ...
, incharge for
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
, from 2018 to 2020. He was also the chairperson of
Public Accounts Committee
A public accounts committee (PAC) is a committee within a legislature whose role is to study public audits, invite ministers, permanent secretaries or other ministry officials to the committee for questioning, and report on their findings subseque ...
in 16th Lok Sabha from 2016 to 2019. After being elected a member of the
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
for Karnataka in 2020 following his defeat in the
2019 Indian general election
General elections were held in India in seven phases from 11 April to 19 May 2019 to elect the members of the 17th Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the result was declared on 23 May. Around 912 million people were eligible to vote, and vote ...
, he defeated
Shashi Tharoor
Shashi Tharoor (; born 9 March 1956) is an Indian politician, author, and former diplomat, who has been serving as Member of Parliament for Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, since 2009. He is currently the Chairman of Committee on External Affairs. ...
Sonia Gandhi
Sonia Gandhi (, ; ; born 9 December 1946) is an Indian politician. She is the longest-serving president of the Indian National Congress, a big-tent liberal political party, which has governed India for most of its post-independence history. ...
. Under his presidency, the Congress gained 99 seats in the
2024 Indian general election
General elections were held in Elections in India, India from 2024 elections in India, 19 April to 1 June 2024 in seven phases, to elect all List of constituencies of the Lok Sabha, 543 members of the Lok Sabha. Votes were counted and the res ...
, forming the
official opposition
Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. This article uses the term ''government'' as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning ''t ...
for the first time since 2014. He is a close ally of the Gandhi family.
Early life and background
Mallikarjun Kharge was born on 21 July 1942 in the Varawatti, Bhalki Taluk,
Bidar district
Bidar district is the northernmost part of the Karnataka state in India. The administrative headquarters of district is Bidar, Bidar city. Geographically, it known as the "Crown of the State", occupying its northeastern end. It is bounded by Ka ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
in a
Dalit
Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...
family to Saibavva and Mapanna Kharge.
In 1948, Kharge lost his mother and sister in a fire set off by the Razakars of the
Nizam of Hyderabad
Nizam of Hyderabad was the title of the ruler of Hyderabad State ( part of the Indian state of Telangana, and the Kalyana-Karnataka region of Karnataka). ''Nizam'' is a shortened form of (; ), and was the title bestowed upon Asaf Jah I wh ...
, while he himself had a narrow escape at the age of 7. 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. He started his legal practice as a junior in Justice Shivaraj Patil's office and fought cases for labour unions early in his legal career.
leader of the opposition
The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the Opposition (parliamentary), largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the ...
on two occasions and led the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee into the 2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election as KPCC president, gaining 15 seats for the party and finishing second. He resigned from the legislature in 2009 to run for the Lok Sabha.
Kharge was first elected to the Lok Sabha in 2009 the general election from Gulbarga. This was his tenth consecutive election victory.
In the 2014 general elections, Kharge was elected from Gulbarga, beating Revunaik Belamagih from the BJP with a margin of 13,404 votes. In June, he was appointed the Leader of the
Congress
A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
party in the Lok Sabha.
In the 2019 general elections, Kharge contested from the same parliamentary seat, however this time he lost to Umesh G. Jadhav from the BJP with a margin of 95,452 votes.
On 12 June 2020 Kharge was elected (unopposed) to the
Rajya Sabha
Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
from Karnataka, at the age of 78 years. On 12 February 2021, Kharge was appointed Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha.
Kharge notably has been appointed an observer by the INC for multiple states in the past, including Assam in 2014, Punjab in 2021, and Rajasthan in 2022. He has been criticized for his alleged inability to resolve internal party issues in these three states and therefore causing the loss in Assam and Punjab, and public embarrassment in Rajasthan.
He is known for his record of defeating all his opposition candidates in his lifetime career except one. In 2023, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from
Lokmat
''Lokmat'' ( ) is a Marathi-language newspaper published in Maharashtra, India. Founded in 1971 by Jawaharlal Darda, it is the largest read Marathi-language newspaper in India. and has presence in print, digital, TV and events.INC party presidential polls and won with 7897 votes. He was the first INC President not from the Gandhi family in 24 years. He was 61th person to hold the post and 98th president of the party. In the first 2 years of his presidency, the Congress formed governments in Himachal Pradesh in 2022,
Telangana
Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
in 2023, and forming a coalition in Jharkhand in 2024, while losing power in Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan in 2023. The Congress opted out of Omar Abdullah’s government in Jammu Kashmir after it sought two ministries but was offered only one even though both parties contested election in alliance. It had won just six of the 39 seats it contested in the state.
2024 general election
Kharge's name was proposed as the prime ministerial candidate of the
Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) is a big tent Political group, multi-party political alliance of several List of political parties in India, political parties in India led by the country's largest opposition party ...
Mamata Banerjee
Mamata Banerjee (; born 5 January 1955) is an Indian politician who is serving as the eighth and current List of chief ministers of West Bengal, chief minister of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal since 2 ...
Arvind Kejriwal
Arvind Kejriwal (; born 16 August 1968) is an Indian politician, activist and former bureaucrat, who served as the 7th Chief Minister of Delhi. He was the chief minister from 2013 to 2014 and from 2015 to 2024. He is also the national conve ...
Nitish Kumar
Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...
and
Rashtriya Janata Dal
The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: National People's Party) is an Indian political party, mainly based in the state of Bihar. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The party's support base has traditionally been Other ...
Kharge married Radhabai on 13 May 1968; they have 2 daughters and 3 sons. Kharge is a polyglot and can speak English, Hindi, Urdu, Kannada, Telugu and Marathi. His son Priyank Kharge is an MLA from the Chittapur assembly constituency, and his son-in-law Radhakrishna is an MP from Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency, Kharge's former seat in the Lok Sabha.
He is the Founder-Chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust that has built the Buddha Vihar in Gulbarga, India. He is also a patron of the Chowdiah Memorial Hall, a concert and theater venue in Bangalore. He helped the centre get over its debts and aided the centre's plans for renovation.