Mallikarjun Kharge’s possible elevation to head AICC could be asset to party ahead of 2023 Karnataka Assembly polls

A Dalit leader with a consistently clean image and a vocal critic of the Modi government, Kharge has been ardently espousing the need for unity of non-BJP parties “to save democracy and the Constitution”

A staunch loyalist of the Nehru-Gandhi family and veteran Congress leader, who is also Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjiun Kharge officially entered the race to become the next All India Congress Committee (AICC) president on Friday.

Filing of nomination papers by senior party leader Mr Kharge assumed significance in many ways. A vocal critic of the Narendra Modi-led government, he has been ardently espousing the need for unity of non-BJP parties “to save democracy and the Constitution”, which could gain traction ahead of the crucial 2024 general elections.

A leader belonging to the Dalit community, he has had a consistently clean image. His elevation to head the grand old party would be a big asset and give a boost to the Congress cadre in Karnataka that goes to Assembly polls in less than eight months.

Given the tacit blessings of the Congress’ first family, Mr Kharge is likely to get the support of the party’s rank and file. His election as AICC president will make him the second politician from Karnataka to occupy the coveted post after the veteran Lingayat community leader S Nijalingappa, who led the party in 1968-69, when the Congress faced electoral disenchantment in several parts of the country after the 1967 debacle. If he is elected, two posts in the Congress will be occupied by leaders of Karnataka. B V Srinivas is currently serving as the president of the Youth Congress.

Born July 21, 1942, Kharge, a law-graduate, got elected as member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly nine consecutive times (1972-2008) and won two Lok Sabha elections (2009 and 2014) from Kalaburagi constituency. After his defeat from the constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, he was elected unopposed to the Upper House of the parliament on June 12, 2020, from Karnataka.

With the reputation of being a no-nonsense leader, Mr. Kharge has vast experience as a minister in six different governments in the State and also as Union Minister in the Manmohan Singh government. He is expected to unite different factions of the party.

In Karnataka, he played a major role in granting of special status to six districts of the Kalyana Karnataka region under Article 371J of the Constitution during the UPA-II government. Till then, all political parties over the past four decades were pleading the Centre to confer special status to the backward region.