Kharge Recalls Missing Karnataka CM Post in 1999, Says Party Chose Newcomer Instead

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday reflected on a major turning point in his political career, recalling how he was overlooked for the post of Karnataka chief minister in 1999 despite leading the party as Leader of the Opposition. Speaking at an election rally in Vijayapura, Kharge said that SM Krishna, a relatively new entrant to the Congress at the time, was chosen instead.

“In the 1999 assembly elections, I fought as the Leader of the Opposition. SM Krishna, who had joined the party just four months earlier, was made the chief minister,” Kharge said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

“I worked hard to bring the party to power, but SM Krishna became CM. The services I rendered went down the drain,” he added.

The Congress had won a commanding 132 out of 224 seats in the 1999 Karnataka Assembly elections, forming the government with Krishna at the helm. The BJP, under BS Yeddyurappa, secured 44 seats, while JD(U) and JD(S) managed 18 and 10 seats respectively.

Although Kharge did not become chief minister, he served as a key minister in the Krishna-led Cabinet and continued to hold significant portfolios under subsequent Congress governments in the state. He later transitioned to national politics, winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and serving as Union Minister for Labour and Employment, Railways, and Social Justice and Empowerment in the UPA government.

In 2020, he entered the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka and was appointed Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House the following year.

In 2022, Kharge made history by becoming the first non-Gandhi Congress president in over two decades, defeating Shashi Tharoor in internal party elections and succeeding Sonia Gandhi, the party’s longest-serving leader.