From 2009 to October 2012, renowned Indian statesman Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, who was born on May 1, 1932, and died on December 10, 2024, was India’s Minister of External Affairs. From 1999 to 2004, he served as Karnataka’s tenth chief minister. From 2004 to 2008, he served as Maharashtra’s nineteenth governor. SM From December 1989 until January 1993, Krishna presided over the Karnataka Vidhan Sabha as its speaker. From 1971 until 2014, he served in both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour, was given to Krishna in 2023.
HIS EARLY LIFE AND EDUCATION
S. C. Mallaiah was the father of S. M. Krishna. He was born into a Vokkaliga family in the Karnataka village of Somanahalli, which is located in the Maddur Taluk of the Mandya district. In Sri Ramakrishna Vidyashala, Mysore, he completed his high school education. He earned a legal degree from University legal College, formerly known as Government Law College in Bangalore, after completing his Bachelor of Arts at Maharaja’s College in Mysore. Krishna studied in the United States, earning a master’s degree in law from the George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C., where he was a Fulbright Scholar, and the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas . He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962, shortly after his return to India.
S.M. KRISHNA PASSES AWAY
In 1962, Krishna began his electoral career by beating K V Shankar Gowda, a well-known member of the Indian National Congress, for whom Jawaharlal Nehru had run an election campaign, and won the Maddur Vidhana Sabha seat as an independent. He then joined the Praja Socialist Party, but Congress’ M M Gowda defeated him in the 1967 elections in Maddur. When the incumbent Member of Parliament passed away in 1968, he defeated the Congress contender in the Mandya Lok Sabha by-election.
He led his party to victory in the 1999 assembly elections while serving as president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. He then assumed the position of Chief Minister of Karnataka, a position he maintained until losing the 2004 Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections. Along with many other citizen-friendly projects, he played a key role in the creation of electricity reforms with ESCOMS and the digitisation of land records (BHOOMI). He spearheaded the Bangalore Advance Task Force and promoted private public engagement.
S.M. KRISHNA’S PERSONAL LIFE
Prema was his spouse. Two girls were born to them. The late V. G. Siddhartha, a businessman and the creator of Cafe Coffee Day, was married to his daughter Malavika Krishna. His younger brother, Shankar, a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, passed away in 2019.
In front of several dignitaries, he published his biography “Smritivahini” at the beginning of his political career. While serving as chief minister, he wrote about a number of fascinating events, such as the kidnapping of Rajkumar by Veerappan. Additionally, he stated that during the time of national emergency, H. D. Devegowda, the national president of the Janata Dal (Secular) and former prime minister of India, had two serious intentions to join the Indian National Congress.
