Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will not be contesting the Lok Sabha elections, with the party on Thursday announcing the candidature of his son-in-law Radhakrishna from his home turf Gulbarga segment.
In the last 15 years, this is the first time that Kharge is not in the fray for Lok Sabha polls.
Kharge was the MP from Gulbarga from 2009-2014. He lost his seat in 2019. At present, he is the leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.
Born in Kalaburagi, Radhakrishna is a businessman. Keeping a low profile, he has been working behind the scenes, managing and strategising Kharge’s campaigns.
The party is yet to finalise the candidates for Kolar, Chikballapur, Chamarajanagar and Bellary seats.
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy’s daughter Sowmya Reddy (Bangalore South), Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi’s daughter Priyanka Jarkiholi (Chikkodi), Women and Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar’s son Mrinal Hebbalkar (Belgaum), Agricultural Marketing Minister Shivanand Patil’s daughter Samyukta Patil (Bagalkot) and Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre’s son Sagar Khandre (Bidar) will contest the polls.
Candidates for remaining seats: Raichur: former IAS officer G Kumar Naik, Koppal: Rajshekhar Hitnal, Dharwad: Vinod Asooti, Uttara Kannada: Anjali Nimbalkar, Davangere: Prabha Mallikarjun, Udupi-Chikmagalur: Jayaprakash Hegde, Dakshina Kannada: Padmaraj, Chitradurga: B N Chandrappa, Mysuru: M Lakshmana, Bangalore North: M V Rajeev Gowda and Bangalore Central: Mansoor Ali Khan.