Worked Hard for 5 Years, but SM Krishna Became CM Just 4 Months After Joining Party: Kharge
Expressing dismay over the Gandhis' decision to overlook him and appoint S.M. Krishna as the Chief Minister of Karnataka, Kharge said that despite working tirelessly for five years to bring the party to power, his efforts felt wasted. Kharge noted that there have been several such instances and declined to elaborate further.
"I too became the CLP leader and worked hard to bring the party to power. Eventually, our government did come to power, but SM Krishna, who had joined the party just four months earlier at the time, became the Chief Minister. All our efforts felt like they went in vain. I had worked tirelessly for five years, and he walked in just four months prior and became CM. There have been many such instances. It doesn't look good to speak about everything on the same day," IANS quoted, Kharge as saying.
S.M. Krishna served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004. During that time, Mallikarjun Kharge held ministerial roles in his cabinet and continued to serve under subsequent chief ministers until he entered national politics by contesting the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
In 2022, Kharge, widely viewed as the Gandhis' preferred choice, was elected Congress president after defeating Shashi Tharoor in the party's internal polls.
There has long been speculation that caste dynamics influenced the decision to appoint S.M. Krishna as Chief Minister over Kharge, despite the latter's seniority and long-standing contributions to the party. Krishna belongs to the Vokkaliga community, a dominant caste in Karnataka, while Kharge comes from a Scheduled Caste background, which many believe played a role in him being overlooked.
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