India, July 28 -- 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.

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.

"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 Kris...