Mallikarjun
Kharge has been elected president of the Congress party. The Indian National Congress conducted elections for its presidential post on October 17. Results of the
elections were announced on October 19. Kharge is up against
Thiruvananthapuram MP and former United Nations official Shashi Tharoor.

Who is Mallikarjuna
Kharge?

Mallikarjuna
Kharge was born on July 21, 1942 in Karnataka’s Bidar district. Kharge did his
schooling from Nutan Vidyalaya in Gulbarga and subsequently went on to do a
Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree from Government College, Gulbarga. He then joined
Seth Shakarlal Lahoti Law College in Gulbarga and began his law practice in
Justice Shivaraj Pati’s office. In the very early years of his legal career, Kharge
fought four cases for labour unions.

Labour
unions then became Kharge’s life blood. He became influential as a labour union
leader of the Samyukta Majdoor Sangha and led agitations for workers’ rights.

Also Read | Shashi Tharoor says ‘odds stacked against us’ as Congress votes for non-Gandhi president

Mallikarjun
Kharge joined the Indian National Congress in 1969 and soon became president of
the Gulbarga City Congress Committee.

Kharge
contested his first state assembly elections in 1972. He won from the Gurmitkal
constituency. He went on to win the same constituency in 1978 and was appointed
Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the Devaraj Urs
ministry.

In 1980,
Mallikarjun Kharge became the Minister for Revenue in the Gundu Rao cabinet and
led Karnataka’s land reforms.

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Mallikarjun
Kharge won every single assembly and parliamentary election he contested
between 1978 and 2014.

Mallikarjun
Kharge is married to Radhabai. The duo got married on May 13, 1968. Kharge has
three sons and two daughters. Kharge is a follower of Buddhism. He is the
founder-chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust that has built the Buddha Vihar in
Gulbarga.

Mallikarjun
Kharge enjoys a significant degree of support in the Congress leadership. A
favourite in the president elections, Kharge has been endorsed as a candidate
by Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot. Kharge is also said to be close to
the Gandhi family and has said that he will take advice from the family on
party matters if he becomes president.