News Mania Desk / Piyal Chatterjee / 11th December 2024
Veteran politician Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, well known as SM Krishna, died on Tuesday at the age of 92. He was noted for his efforts to promote ‘Brand Bengaluru’.In 2023, the former Karnataka Chief Minister (1999-2004) and former External Affairs Minister received the Padma Vibhushan for his contributions to public affairs.
SM Krishna, the late SC Mallaiah’s son, was born on May 1, 1932, at Somanahalli, Maddur Taluka of Mandya. He married Prema, with whom he has two daughters: Malavika and Shambhavi. Krishna attended Maharaja’s College in Mysore, earned a law degree from Bengaluru’s Government Law College, and then continued his study at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and later George Washington University.
Then, in India, he taught international law at Renukacharya Law College in Bangalore. Krishna was first elected to the Legislative Assembly in 1962.The politician first appeared in Parliament in 1968, when he was elected to the Lok Sabha. Despite being elected to the sixth Lower House, SM Krishna decided to return to state politics in 1972. He was elected to the legislative council and later served as minister of trade, industry, and parliamentary affairs from 1972 to 1977.
Krishna eventually returned to the Lok Sabha in 1980. He was Minister of State for Industry from 1983 to 1984, and Minister of State for Finance from 198He was the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 1989 to 1992. Krishna was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1996 and served until October 1999.Between this and 1982, Krishna served on the Indian delegation to the United Nations. In 1990, he was a delegate to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar in Westminster, United Kingdom.
After serving as Karnataka’s chief minister from October 1999 to May 2004, SM Krishna became Maharashtra’s governor in December 2004.In his more than six-decade career, Krishna served as External Affairs Minister in the 2009-2012 UPA government led by then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Notably, the veteran statesman, who was formerly linked with the Congress, ended his 46-year affiliation with the grand old party in 2017 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party instead. He had left Congress, claiming that it was in a “state of confusion”. Krishna declared his retirement from active politics a few months before the 2023 Karnataka Assembly elections.Krishna is most recognized for his role as Karnataka’s chief minister and promoter of ‘Brand Bengaluru’. During his stint as Karnataka’s chief minister, the information technology (IT) sector in Bengaluru expanded as an alternative to California’s Silicon Valley, creating opportunities for thousands of young people.
In 2022, Krishna wrote to then-chief minister Basavaraj Bommai, urging him to take serious efforts to defend the ‘Brand Bengaluru’. He proposed reconstituting the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF), which was founded in 1999 by the Krishna government and consisted of specialists from diverse sectors to prepare a roadmap for the city’s development with a future vision.
