Mallikarjun Kharge

Mallikarjun Kharge Biography

Mallikarjun Kharge is a senior politician associated with Indian National Congress. He serves as the Member of Parliament for Gulbarga, Karnataka since 2009. A prominent and influential leader of Congress, he has won Assembly elections with a record of 10 consecutive times, for an unprecedented 9 consecutive times. He has been elected to state assembly since 1972, and owns a clean image in politics. He is known to be a dynamic leader, administrator and legislature. In 2014 general elections, he has been nominated as leader of Congress Party in Lok Sabha. Also known as a philanthropist he is the Founder-Chairman of Siddharth Vihar Trust.

Kharge was born in the Varwatti of Bidar District, Karnataka. He was born into a Dalit family in the year 1942. His education was completed at Gulbarga and he started his professional career in legal practice after completing his LLB degree. Kharge got associated with politics since his college days. He rose to a student leader after he was elected as General Secretary of the students' body. He joined the Indian National Congress in 1969 and rose to a prominent leader in a short time. An influential leader from Karnataka, he has never lost any assembly elections since 1972, and holds a record of 10 times.

He got elected to state assembly for the first time in 1972 from Gurmitkal constituency. He was appointed as Chairman of the Octroi Abolition Committee the following year. Since then he rose to an influential leader within state politics. When he became an MLA for the second time in 1978, he was appointed as Minister of State for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the Devaraj Urs ministry. Since then he served as a cabinet minister multiple times. In the 2014 general elections, Kharge won from the Gulbarga parliamentary seat, and he was appointed as the Leader of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha.

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Updated: June 19, 2016