New Delhi, 29 June (H.S.): Congress President and Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Monday took oath as a Member of the Rajya Sabha. Recently re-elected to the Upper House from Karnataka, Kharge was administered the oath by Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Chairman's Chamber in Parliament House.

The oath-taking ceremony was attended by Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh, Leader of the House and Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the party's General Secretary (Organisation) K.C. Venugopal, and several senior leaders from different political parties.

Notably, the 83-year-old Kharge has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka for a second consecutive term. He currently serves as the Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House.

Kharge, who has more than five decades of experience in public life, began his political career in Karnataka. He was first elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1972. Thereafter, he was elected as an MLA for nine consecutive terms and held several key portfolios in the state government. Between 1999 and 2004, he also served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.

At the national level, Kharge represented Karnataka's Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency in 2009 and 2014. During the second term of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, he served as Union Minister for Railways as well as Union Minister for Labour and Employment. From 2014 to 2019, he was the Leader of the Congress Party in the Lok Sabha.

Kharge entered the Rajya Sabha for the first time in 2020 and was elected President of the Indian National Congress in October 2022, becoming the party's 98th president. He currently continues to play a pivotal role both as the head of the Congress organisation and as the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar