The story of Mapanna Mallikarjun Kharge is one of an ordinary party worker rising to the top position of national president of the Congress, something that rarely happened in the 137-year-old organisation in the last few decades. Of course, during that long innings spanning over five decades, Kharge, the 80-year-old quintessential Congressman, has enjoyed nearly every position in the party and the government, except that of the chief minister. It is rare for any leader to be a municipal president, district party chief, president of the state unit of the party and general secretary at the national level besides being a minister in every Congress government from 1972 till 2004 in Karnataka, in addition to adorning the post of a minister at the Centre. He also has the rare distinction of being in leadership positions in the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha and the state assembly.
But then, Kharge comes from humble beginnings and one who has seen tragedy early in life. Born at Warawatti in Bhalki taluk of Karnataka’s Bidar district, which falls in the Hyderabad-Karnataka region then ruled by the Nizams, he was the son of a mill labourer. During the Razakar movement, he saw communal strife that took the lives of his mother and sister as his house was burnt down. For five years, the family had to move from place to place to escape violence.
The communal frenzy made a lasting impression on a young Kharge, shaping his opinion on communalism, making him commit to secularism. An out and out loyalist to the party and to the Gandhi family, he named three of his five children as Rahul, Priyank and Priyadarshini.
Kharge groomed his leadership skills in student politics at the Seth Shankarlal Lahoti Law College where he was a union leader and studied law. He also worked in a cinema theatre to support the family. He was a sportsman in college as he played kabaddi and hockey. He was injured when he was playing hockey—he got hit by a hockey stick so strongly that he had to quit playing the game. He attributes his leg pain even today to this injury. As a lawyer, he took up labour-related cases and practiced under Shivraj Patil, who rose to become a judge of the Supreme Court.
The senior-most Congressman from Karnataka plunged into politics in 1969 when Indira Gandhi was facing challenges to her leadership. Soon, Devaraj Urs chose him to fight the assembly election in 1972 from Gurmitkal. He won the polls and won every election thereafter—as many as nine times as MLA. He was successful as MP too as he won twice from the Gulbarga seat (now Kalaburagi)—all these victories earned him the sobriquet of ‘Solillada Saradara’ (undefeated chieftain/leader). However, he tasted defeat for the first time in his career—in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he lost to his one-time election manager Umesh Jadhav, who had crossed over to the BJP. But Congress leadership was not ready to lose Kharge’s services—he was brought to Rajya Sabha and made Leader of the Opposition. Fluent in Kannada, Hindi, Urdu, Marathi and Telugu, his successes at the hustings are attributed to his close affinity with the voters, knowing party workers by their names, vast administrative experience, contribution to his constituency and state, an astute political mind and an ability to take all leaders together. While he assumed so many responsibilities, he never even once went after them, including the latest one of the party president.
A foodie, Kharge loves non-vegetarian fare and a warm jowar roti. His wife, Radhabai, is a great host at their house in Kalaburagi. Whenever he visits home, which is rare these days, the Kharge house will be teeming with people, especially party workers and leaders and other help-seekers. Among his major contributions to the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region include pushing the Centre to accord Special Status under Article 371(J), thereby enabling reservation in jobs and college admissions for locals, a ESI hospital-cum-medical college and the Central University of Karnataka, both for Kalaburagi.
Amidst all these, if there is one post that has eluded the octogenarian, it is that of Karnataka chief minister. The veteran leader narrowly missed the post thrice—in 1999 when S M Krishna became CM, in 2004 when his close friend N Dharam Singh got the post when H D Deve Gowda of JD(S) joined hands with Congress to form the government (rumour was that Gowda preferred Singh and not Kharge who was seen as not pliable), and in 2013 when he lost out to Siddaramaiah. It seems many wanted him to rebel each time, but Kharge remained quiet and loyal to the party decision each time. He left Congress once along with his mentor Urs in 1979 but returned to the parent party a year later. When S Bangarappa was the chief minister, Kharge was very close to him but he chose to stay back in the party though the former rebelled and parted ways with the Congress.
Despite his long public life, Kharge, always seen in spotless white dhoti and kurta, rarely courted controversy. When he was a minister in the state, a flustered Kharge moved quickly to surrender a site that his daughter was given by a house building society. When he was party floor leader in Lok Sabha, a complaint was given to Lok Ayukta in Raichur that he had amassed wealth. However, not much has been heard about it since.
With his elevation now, Kharge becomes the first leader from outside the Gandhi family to assume the party chief’s post in recent times. Will he be a rubber stamp and carry out what Sonia and Rahul Gandhi want? He may listen to them but certainly would put forth his point of view to ensure a consensus for any issue or crisis.
Is there anything else left for him to achieve? If there is one, it is that of chief ministership. With Siddaramaiah and D K Shivakumar known to be at loggerheads, if Congress succeeds in defeating BJP in Karnataka, who knows, Kharge may become a consensus candidate! Cricket is known to be a game of uncertainty, and so is politics as we have seen most often.
B S ARUN
Bengaluru-based political commentator
(bsarun24@gmail.com)