Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge may not contest the Lok Sabha polls this time -- a possibility that has rung alarm bells in some sections.
The general cannot be missing in the battlefield is the sentiment and they advocate him leading from the front. But the party veteran has pointed out a crucial aspect -- the chief needs to take care of the big picture without getting involved in his own campaign.
Mr Kharge was the one unanimous name in the candidates' list for Karnataka that was discussed last week for the Gulbarga constituency. But he is likely to nominate his son-in-law Radhakrishnan Doddamani, sources close to him have told NDTV.
Mr Kharge had won twice from the Gulbarga constituency but lost in 2019. He has since been in Rajya Sabha, where he is the Leader of the Opposition. He has four more years left in the Upper House.
Mr Kharge's son Priyank Kharge is a minister in the cabinet of Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Reports say he is not keen on contesting the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress, in fact, is refraining from poaching the state minister for the general election.
Mr Kharge has said he does not want to get "confined to one constituency but concentrate across the country".
The Congress has no record of party chiefs not contesting elections. In recent years, both Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have contested and won, though Mr Gandhi lost party bastion to Smriti Irani in 2019.
Even in the BJP, while JP Nadda is not contesting this year, in 2014 and 2019, then BJP chiefs Rajnath Singh and Amit Shah had won huge victories from Lucknow and Gandhinagar.
In the last meeting of the INDIA bloc, Mr Kharge was projected by Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal as the Prime Ministerial face of the Opposition bloc. But Mr Kharge had declined, saying the matter should be discussed once the elections are over.
'Congress Allowed Illegal Migration Of Foreign Militants': JP Nadda On Manipur Letter Vs Letter As BJP, Congress Clash Over Manipur Crisis BJP vs Congress On US Government Department Move Against Adani Group "Thousand Times Better...": Delhi Lt Governor's Surprise For AAP's Atishi Amazon Employee Greets Friend At Wedding, Dies Of Cardiac Arrest Indian Student In US Accidentally Shoots Himself Dead While Celebrating Birthday Elon Musk Slams 'Ridiculously Slow And Difficult' US Immigration System "Roar For Tamil Nadu's Rights In Parliament": MK Stalin To DMK MPs Drug Racket Busted In Bengaluru, 318 Kg Marijuana Worth Rs 3 Crore Seized Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.