 "Kharge, Mallikarjun Kharge")
After casting his vote here on Tuesday, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that the grand old party will register a thumping majority in Karnataka and that there "was no doubt" about it.
The second phase of Lok Sabha polls in Karnataka is underway in 14 constituencies. The 81-year-old Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha was accompanied by his wife Radhabai Kharge to a polling booth at Basavanagara here. While speaking to reporters here, he said, "Things are good, good reports are coming from everywhere. Alliance partners (INDI Alliance) are getting strength in this third phase (nationally). Definitely in this phase too we will get good support from the people," he added.
Kharge said that he has been voting from Basavanagara in Kalaburagi since he became eligible for voting at the age of 21 (It is now 18).
"I never got it (polling locality) changed. When I became Minister, when I became opposition leader, KPCC (Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee) President, opposition leader in Parliament, I have never forgotten Basavanagara," he said.
"People here have given me love and affection, they really developed my leadership. I'm grateful to the poor people, who stood with me. I'm with them," he added.
Kharge's son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani is the Congress candidate from Gulbarga (Kalaburagi) Lok Sabha segment, which the Congress veteran represented twice (2009, 2014), but lost in 2019.
The fourteen Lok Sabha constituencies where elections are underway on Tuesday are: Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davangere and Shimoga.
The state has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies. The first phase of polling in the other 14 seats in most of the southern and coastal districts was held on April 26.
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