Kharge missed many buses but now may become Cong president

Over 60 years in politics, Mallikarjun Kharge always recalls his mentor Devaraj Urs' words when he brought an influential businessman to him and asked him to consider giving him a ticket to fight a municipal poll.

Young Kharge felt that the businessman could win the difficult seat for Congress but as a seasoned politician, Urs was not impressed. His advice to Kharge, which he follows now to every word, was not to allow someone with money to dictate politics. "You be the leader who provides or the rich will become the leader and leave you nowhere," Urs told Kharge.

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Years down the line, Kharge now is at the doorsteps of achieving a milestone in his career, after losing many posts to party colleagues – despite a spirited fight offered by Shashi Tharoor, Kharge's election as Congress president looks a fait accompli.

Since 1999, Kharge, a Dalit who rose on the political ladder, had lost the race for Chief Ministership thrice – in 1999 to S M Krishna, 2004 to Dharam Singh, and in 2013 to Siddaramaiah. But he never rebelled, created trouble for the government, or encouraged factionalism. He remained loyal to the Gandhi family.

Kharge's sincerity and loyalty were the only thing that prompted Congress president Sonia Gandhi to lean on the veteran after her plans to hand over the reins to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot fell flat following a rebellion by MLAs supporting him.

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As she did not want a repeat of trouble, the safe bet was Kharge and he would become the second Dalit in Congress history to be party president after Jagjivan Ram. He will also be the second party chief from Karnataka after S Nijalingappa and the sixth from south India, the previous ones being Pattabhi Sitharamayya, Neelam Sanjeeva Reddy, K Kamaraj, P V Narasimha Rao besides Nijalingappa.

The 80-year-old leader's candidature also appears to have brought the warring groups in the Congress on one page – the G-23 or change-seekers who challenged the leadership, especially Rahul Gandhi's role came in full force to support his candidature.

For Kharge, the son of a textile mill worker who shifted to national politics after 45 years of being a major player in Karnataka politics in 2009, Delhi did not intimidate him. He was drafted into the Manmohan Singh government as Labour Minister while he later became Railways and Social Justice and Empowerment Minister.

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In 2014 when the UPA lost and Congress was reduced to 44, Sonia had no qualms in making him the Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha. Staunchly anti-RSS, Kharge became the Parliamentary voice of Congress as he did not pull a punch when it came to taking on the BJP. But 2019 was the year when Kharge lost his first poll in his life – he lost the Gulbarga Lok Sabha seat to the BJP.

Congress did not want him to retire and brought him to Rajya Sabha to make him the Leader of Opposition after Ghulam Nabi Azad's term ended.

Starting his career in politics as a student politician and General Secretary of the Students Union of Government Arts and Science College in Kalaburgi, he rose to the presidentship of Kalaburagi (then Gulbarga) City Congress. He was MLA between 1972, the first time he contested, and 2009 and was Minister in all Congress governments. He was first made a minister by his mentor Urs.

What would make Kharge the quintessential politician? A senior Opposition leader told DH, he listens, respects others, and has a knack for getting his way through his sober approach. His well-wishers now believe these qualities will help him in steering the party, once he wins.