Mallikarjun Kharge receives Rajya Sabha election certificate, says this may be his last term in RS

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge receives the Rajya Sabha election certificate from the Returning Officer in Bengaluru on Friday. | Photo credit: special arrangement

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday received his election certificate after being elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka for the second consecutive term. While signing the certificate, the veteran leader said this could be mostly his last term in the upper house.

Mr. Kharge was welcomed by many, including Ministers Sharan Prakash Patil, Eshwar Khandre and Yathindra Siddaramaiah, along with MLAs AS Ponnanna, Ashok Pattan, Narendra Swamy and other party leaders.

Senior Ministers, MLAs and MLCs gathered at Vidhana Soudha to greet the AICC President. Several ministerial aspirants and leaders considered close to Mr Kharge were also present and congratulated him on his re-election.

Accompanied by legislators, members and supporters of the Legislative Council, Mr. Kharge proceeded to the office of Returning Officer Vishalakshi and received the certificate. He later visited the office of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) and interacted with the legislators.

Milestone

Speaking to reporters, Mr. Kharge described the event as a major milestone in his political journey and thanked the people of Karnataka and the Congress leadership for reposing faith in him.

“I have been given the opportunity to serve the people for the thirteenth time. I thank the people of Kalaburagi, the people of Karnataka, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, party leaders and workers,” he said.

Recalling his long political tenure, Mr. Kharge said that he first entered the legislature in 1972 and had witnessed several political and social changes in the last six decades.

“During these 60 years I have seen many ups and downs. There have been changes across sectors and across all walks of life,” he said. According to him, the party leadership repeatedly entrusted him with responsibilities and opportunities to serve the people.

‘Antidemocratic’

Responding to questions on the rejection of Congress candidate Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination in Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Kharge called the decision “illegal” and “anti-democratic”.

He said Congress would seek a legal remedy and argued that the rejection would not have happened without political interference. “What happened is against the law and against democracy. We will go to the courts,” he said.

When asked about the completion of 12 years of Narendra Modi’s rule in office, Mr. Kharge declined to elaborate, saying the day was meant to celebrate his election. “Today is a good day. I will talk about these issues in detail on another occasion,” he said.

Published – 12 Jun 2026 19:36 IST