Former Chief Minister and Union Minister SM Krishna passed away early on Tuesday morning, December 10, at his house in Bengaluru. He was 92.
SM Krishna had been in and out of hospital through the year. His mortal remains are likely to be taken to Maddur, Mandya district.
Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna was born on May 1, 1932, into a Vokkaliga family and had a long career in politics, both in Karnataka and at the national level. He spent the bulk of his six-decade political career with the Congress, but shifted to the BJP in 2017.
A lawyer by training, he contested his first election from Maddur as an independent candidate and won.
Krishna was chief minister of Karnataka between October 1999 and May 2004. He was appointed external affairs minister from 2009 to 2012 in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. He is often credited with Bengaluru’s IT boom. He was also Maharashtra governor between 2004 and 2008.
In 2023, he was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian honour.