Kharge is Congress' second Dalit president; party's first chief from the community Jagjivan Ram challenged Indira Gandhi

Mallikarjun Kharge has not only become the first non-Gandhi Congress president in 24 years, but he has also become the party’s first Dalit chief in 50 years.

As Kharge takes over the reins of the Congress, here’s a look back at the life and career of Jagjivan Ram who was the Congress’ Dalit face for years and its first chief from the community between 1970 and 1971.

Like Kharge, Ram was also considered a Gandhi family loyalist until he revolted and formed his own party.

Born in Bihar’s Arrah in 1908, Ram joined Congress during the freedom movement. Post-independence, he became part of the country’s first Cabinet under prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

Jagjivan Ram backed Indira Gandhi during Emergency

After Nehru’s death, he backed his daughter Indira Gandhi’s bid to become the PM.

Known to have a close working relationship with Gandhi, Ram held several ministerial portfolios in her Cabinets. Most notably, he was the defence minister during the 1971 India-Pakistan War.

Ram also supported Gandhi during the Emergency (1975-77). Thus it came as a major political upheaval after he along with some other leaders left the Congress in 1977, just days after Gandhi announced that General elections will be held in the country.

Ram’s party Congress for Democracy became a part of the Opposition Janata Party. The move is said to have taken Gandhi by surprise.

“I fail to understand why you have resigned when elections have been announced, most of the restrictions under the Emergency have been relaxed, press censorship has been withdrawn, and political prisoners released,” Gandhi told Ram, according to an OPEN magazine report.

Ram forms his own party ahead of 1977 polls

Janata Dal served a crushing defeat to the Congress in the 1977 elections and it was at this point that Ram’s reasons to leave the Congress became clearer.

Ram had pitched himself as the PM candidate but faced tough competition from Chaudhury Charan Singh and Morarji Desai. In the end, Desai became the PM and Ram the defence minister.

In 1981, Ram left the Janata Dal alliance and formed a party called Congress (Jagjivan) which was dissolved after his death in 1986.

Throughout his political career, Ram managed to win back-to-back Lok Sabha polls. However, his final years were marred by a family feud between his granddaughter Maydhaavi Qirti and daughter Meira Kumar who later went on to join Congress and become India’s first female Lok Sabha speaker.

Coming to Kharge who is currently a Rajya Sabha MP from Karnataka. Despite being an eight-time MLA from the state, Kharge was never picked for the CM post when Congress won the state Assembly polls.

In 2014, Kharge was among the few Congress leaders who survived the Modi wave and were able to win from their constituencies.

However, Kharge lost the 2019 Lok Sabha polls but was nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the Congress in 2020.

There has been wide speculation that the polls were unfair from the start and that Kharge was certain to defeat his contender Shashi Tharoor.

Rahul Gandhi’s reference to Kharge as Congress president on Wednesday even before the results were announced only added fuel to fire.

Will Kharge go the Jagjivan Ram way?

Ahead of the polls, Kharge gave a bizarre reply when reporters asked him whether he or Rahul Gandhi will be the party’s prime ministerial candidate in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

“I am contesting the organisational election. There is a saying ‘Bakrid mein bachenge toh Muharram mein nachenge’. First, let these elections get over and let me become president, then we will see,” Kharge had said.

Now that Kharge has won the polls, it remains to be seen whether he will take charge of the party in the real sense or work under the shadows of the Gandhis.

However, his first statement post-victory has done little to indicate that there will be a change as the party struggles to find a foothold ahead of the 2024 general elections.

“I want to thank Sonia Gandhi on behalf of all party workers. She has made personal sacrifices and served the party for 25 years with hard sweat and blood. Under her leadership, we formed our government at the Centre twice. Her tenure (as party president) will be remembered in history,” Kharge said.

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