Bengaluru: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge is a smart, shrewd and experienced politician. There is none to impugn this fact.  He has won elections after elections and ranks as one of the topmost leaders in the country. But has he continued the legacy that the Congress party is so infamously known for? Is he too following in the footsteps of former AICC president Sonia Gandhi?

If one were to analyse what’s happening in his constituency of Kalaburagi, or the erstwhile Gulbarga in the recent days, one would easily understand that something is really going bad for Mallikarjun Kharge.

As an example, if one considers the issue of Umesh Jadhav exiting the Congress, one would easily understand that the Chincholi MLA squarely blamed Mallikarjun Kharge and his nepotism for his son Priyank Kharge for shifting loyalties to the BJP.

These allegations of nepotism have become an albatross around the neck of Mallikarun Kharge. Two more leaders, who were prominent Congressmen in the past, jumped ship to the BJP, owing to the same reason. They are Malikayya Guttedar, representing BJP from the Afzalpur constituency and Baburao Chinchansur, representing BJP from Gurmitkal constituency. Both Afzalpur and Gurmitkal are in close proximity to Kalaburagi.

Both these leaders were close to Mallikarjun Kharge. But now, they have aligned with the BJP, owing to differences with him.

Next time, when Mallikarjun Kharge or his son Priyank Kharge fights the elections, they will feel the absence of these three leaders who defected to the BJP and one more important politician Qamar ul Islam, another close friend of Mallikarjun Kharge, but now deceased.

The love for the promulgation of dynasty politics is palpable in the Congress. Another notable politician, who ensured his son got a good, royal treatment is Dharam Singh, whose son Ajay Singh is an MLA from Jewargi.

Politics, after all, runs in the blood!