Mallikarjun Kharge resigns as leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha

Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Sonia Gandhi saying that he tenders his resignation from the post of leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, consequent upon his filing of nomination for the Congress presidential poll race

Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday tendered his resignation as the leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha after filing his nomination for the party’s presidential poll race. The resignation comes under the ‘One Leader, One Post’ scheme adopted in the Udaipur declaration.

Mallikarjun Kharge, a Dalit leader from Karnataka, is set to become the first non-Gandhi Congress president since 1998. (Hindustan Times)

“I hereby tender my resignation from the post of Leader of Opposition, Rajya Sabha, consequent upon my filing of nomination for the post of President, All India Congress Committee,” Kharge wrote to party’s interim president Sonia Gandhi.

Kharge became the leader of the Opposition in the Upper House in February 2021 following Ghulam Nabi Azad’s retirement. P Chidambaram, Mukul Wasnik, Ranjeet Ranjan and Digvijaya Singh are reportedly the possible candidates to succeed Kharge.

Kharge joined the Congress presidential poll race along with Shashi Tharoor and K N Tripathi,who have also filed their nominations. The Karnataka leader has the backing of G-23, a ginger group of senior leaders who have demanded organisational reform, including Manish Tewari, Bhupinder Hooda and Prithiviraj Chavan. However, the Thiruvananthapuram MP has refused to disclose his backers to the public.

Meanwhile, the party’s Central Election Authority chairman, Madhusudan Mistry said a total of 20 nomination forms have been received and the Gandhi family is not supporting any candidate. Kharge has submitted 14 nomination forms, whereas, Tharoor has sent five. Tripathi, on the other hand, submitted single page of proposers.

Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot was the initial choice of the Gandhis for the presidential election. However, he had to step back from the contest amid the rebellion in the Congress’ state unit. Later, former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh was reported to be joining the race. However, he also dropped out amid news of Kharge’s participation.

The last date of withdrawal of nomination is October 8, while the polls will be held on October 17. The results will be declared on October 19.