Mallikarjun Kharge says he doesn’t want to be ‘confined’ to one constituency

New Delhi:

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge may not contest the Lok Sabha polls this time – a possibility that has set off alarm bells in some quarters.

What is indispensable for a general on the battlefield is emotion, and they advocate him commanding from the front. But the party veteran pointed out a crucial aspect – the leader needs to look at the bigger picture and not get involved in his own personal campaign.

Mr Haq was the unanimous name in the list of candidates in Karnataka, which was discussed in Gulbarga constituency last week. But sources close to him told NDTV that he may nominate his son-in-law Radhakrishnan Doddamani.

Kharge had won from Gulbarga constituency twice but lost in 2019. Thereafter, he entered the Federal House of Representatives and served as leader of the opposition. He has four years remaining in his term in the House of Lords.

Mr Kharge’s son Priyank Kharge is a cabinet minister under Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. There are reports that he is not keen on contesting the Lok Sabha elections.In fact, the Congress party did not poach a minister of state for the general election—only one minister

Mr Hager said he did not want to be “confined to one constituency but concentrated across the country”.

Congress has no record of party leaders not participating in elections. Both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have contested and won in recent years, although Mr Gandhi lost party bastion Smriti Irani in 2019.

Even in the BJP, while Nadda is not contesting this year, in 2014 and 2019, then-BJP presidents Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah were in Lucknow and Gandhi Nagar won a huge victory.

At the last meeting of the Indian group, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal elected Mr Haq as the prime ministerial representative of the opposition group. But Mr Hager refused, saying the matter should be discussed after the election.