Mallikarjun Kharge opens up on not becoming Karnataka chief minister in 1999: ‘My services…’

Kharge said that he fought the 1999 polls as Leader of Opposition in the state, but SM Krishna was picked as chief minister.

Updated on: Jul 28, 2025, 08:58:16 IST

By HT News Desk

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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday spoke about missing the post of chief minister of Karnataka in 1999, saying that someone who had joined the party recently was chosen instead.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Indira Bhawan in New Delhi. (PTI)

Addressing a poll rally in Karnataka's Vijayapura, Mallikarjun Kharge said he fought the polls as Leader of Opposition in the state, but added that SM Krishna was picked as chief minister.

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

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"I tried to bring the party to power, but SM Krishna became the CM. The services I rendered went down the drain..." he added.

SM Krishna served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004. The Congress won 132 of 224 seats in the Assembly polls. The BJP, led by BS Yeddyurappa, won 44 seats, followed by Janata Dal (United) with 18 seats, and Janata Dal (Secular) with 10, among others.

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Kharge served as a minister in the Cabinet of SM Krishna and succeeding Congress chief ministers, until he contested the 2009 Lok Sabha elections and was appointed as the minister for labour and employment. He also served as the Union minister for Railways and Social Justice and Empowerment.

In 2020, Kharge was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka at the age of 78. In 2021, he was appointed as Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha.

In 2022, he became the president of the Congress party after he defeated Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor. He became the first non-Gandhi chief of the party in 24 years and replaced Sonia Gandhi, who was the party’s longest-serving president.

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