Congress nominates ex-MP Mallikarjun Kharge for Karnataka Rajya Sabha berth

The Congress party on Friday nominated former Union minister and senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge as the party’s candidate for the upcoming Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka. Kharge, a former leader of the Congress party in Lok Sabha, had lost the 2019 election from his Gulbarga parliamentary seat.

On Twitter, Congress posted a statement announcing Kharge's nomination. "Congress president Sonia Gandhi has approved the candidature of Mallikarjun Kharge as Congress candidate for the ensuing biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka."

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Senior Congressman

The former MP is currently the Congress' general secretary in-charge of party affairs in Maharashtra, where the Congress is part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance with Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Mallikarjun Kharge is a prominent Dalit leader of the party and considered close to the Gandhi family.

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Rajya Sabha polls

In a major decision, the Election Commission on Monday announced that the polls for 18 Rajya Sabha seats which were deferred due to Coronavirus, will be held on June 19 from 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The counting of the votes will be done on the same day at 5:00 PM. The 18 seats belong to the states of  Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, and Rajasthan.

Additionally, EC will also hold Rajya Sabha polls for six seats whose members are scheduled to retire in June and July, on June 19. The six seats are — Arunachal (1), Karnataka (4), Mizoram (1). The last day to file nomination is June 9. This year, 55 Rajya Sabha seats fell vacant by April 2020 - 37 of which has been elected unopposed already.

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