S. M. Krishna

S. M. Krishna is son of S.C. Mallaiah. He was born to a Vokkaliga family in a village named Somanahalli in the Maddur Taluk of Mandya district, Karnataka. He completed his Bachelor's in Arts from Maharaja's College, Mysore and obtained a Law degree from University Law College, which was then known as Government Law College in Bangalore. Krishna studied in the United States, graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Soon after his return to India, he was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962.[2]

He is married to Prema. They have two daughters.[3] His daughter Malavika Krishna was married to the Late V. G. Siddhartha, a businessman and the founder of Cafe Coffee Day.[4][5]

At the dawn of his political life, he released his biography "Smritivahini" in the presence of many dignatories. He has penned many interesting incidents including Veerappan Kidnapping of Rajkumar during his tenure as the chief minister.[6] He has also quoted that the former prime minister, national president of Janata Dal (Secular), H. D. Devegowda had strong plans of joining Indian National Congress twice during the period of National emergency.[7][8]

Krishna(center) with US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Krishna started his political career with Praja Socialist Party in the year 1962. He had won against a prominent politician from Indian National Congress (INC) for whom Jawaharlal Nehru had campaigned in Maddur. He served multiple terms as an MP from the Mandya district of Karnataka starting from 1968 in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th Lok Sabha. In 1968 he was influential in reconciliation between members of the Indian National Congress and Praja Socialist Party. He later joined the Congress and served as minister under Indira Gandhi between 1983–84 and Rajiv Gandhi between 1984 and 1985 as minister of state for industry and finance respectively. He was member of the Rajya Sabha in the years 1996 and 2006. He was member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and council at different times. Between 1989 and 1992 he was Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.

In 1999, as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, he led his party to victory in the assembly polls and took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a post he held until 2004. He was also instrumental in creating power reforms with ESCOMS and digitization of land records (BHOOMI) and many other citizen friendly initiatives. He encouraged private public participation and was a fore bearer of the Bangalore Advance Task Force. He later became the Governor of Maharashtra.

Krishna resigned as Governor of Maharashtra on 5 March 2008. It was reported that this was due to his intention to return to active politics in Karnataka.[9] President Pratibha Patil accepted his resignation on 6 March.[10] Krishna entered the Rajya Sabha and subsequently took the oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 22 May 2009.

Krishna resigned as External Affairs Minister on 26 October 2012 indicating a return to Karnataka state politics.[1][11]

Krishna resigned as a member of INC on 29 January 2017 quoting that the party was in a "state of confusion" on whether it needed mass leaders or not. He also complained of having been sidelined by the party and that the party was "dependent on managers and not time-tested people like [himself]".[12] After speculations on his joining the Bharatiya Janata Party, he formally joined the party in March 2017.[13]

• Member of 3rd Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1962–67
• Member, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Commonwealth
• Parliamentary Conference, New Zealand, 1965
• Member, 5th Lok Sabha 1971–1976
• Member, 7th Lok Sabha 1980–1984
• Member, Karnataka Legislative Council 1972–1977
• Minister for Commerce & Industries & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Karnataka 1972–77
• Member, Indian Delegation to the United Nations, 1982
• Union Minister of State for Industry during 1983–1984
• Union Minister of State for Finance during 1984–1985
• Member, 9th Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989–1992
• Speaker, Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989–93
• Delegate to Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar at West Minister, UK in March 1990
• Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, 1992–1994
• Elected to Rajya Sabha in April 1996
• Chief Minister of Karnataka October 1999 – 2004
• Re-elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly: 2004
• Governor, Maharashtra: 2004–2008
• Member, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka 2008–2014[14]
• External Affairs Minister, Government of India: 22 May 2009 to 26 October 2012.[15]

On 2 July 2012, Krishna paid a two-day visit to Tajikistan to strengthen its economic and energy ties.[16]