Congress general secretary M. Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday was announced as the party’s official candidate from Karnataka for the Rajya Sabha (RS) elections.
The elections to four RS seats from Karnataka have been scheduled for June 19. Of the four seats, the Opposition can win two while the ruling party can win two.
The RS elections assume significance in Karnataka as it could bring old allies, the Congress and the JD(S), together again. With 44 first-preference votes required to elect Mr. Kharge, the Congress will be left with 24 surplus votes in the elections.
The Congress is expected to support the former Prime Minister and JD(S) patriarch H.D. Deve Gowda, if it gets support from the JD(S) in the election to seven seats of the Legislative Council, later this month.
The JD(S) needs 10 extra votes to send Mr. Gowda to the Upper House as the party has only 34 members in the Legislative Assembly.
The Congress’ choice of its RS nominee will also change the internal dynamics of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) that will now be headed by D.K. Shivakumar.
The Congress’ choice of its RS nominee will also change the internal dynamics of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) that will now be headed by D.K. Shivakumar.
With a RS berth, Mr. Kharge — currently the general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra where the Congress currently shares power with the Shiv Sena and the NCP — will make a return to national politics and is expected to add heft to the Congress benches in Parliament.
The former leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha lost to the BJP’s Umesh Jadhav from Kalaburagi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress insiders in Karnataka said though the former president Rahul Gandhi had a younger candidate, his mother and current party chief Sonia Gandhi decided on Mr. Kharge because of his parliamentary experience.
Also, Mr. Kharge’s nomination will help the Congress manage a delicate balance of power between Mr. Shivakumar and Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Siddaramaiah, who had emerged as the tallest Congress leader during his tenure as Chief Minister.
In fact, a couple of recent meetings between Mr. Shivakumar and Mr. Kharge had given rise to speculation that the two may have come together to keep Mr. Siddaramaiah under check. But officially, Mr. Kharge has been supported by all camps in the Karnataka Congress.