Siddaramaiah makes history, becomes first Karnataka CM to complete term in 40 years

The last CM in the state to complete a full five-year term was D Devaraj Urs.
Siddaramaiah makes history, becomes first Karnataka CM to complete term in 40 years
Siddaramaiah makes history, becomes first Karnataka CM to complete term in 40 years

Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held on May 12 before the Siddaramaiah government finishes its full five-year term on May 28, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.

With this, CM Siddaramaiah, who took charge in May 2013, is set to finish his full term of five years – the first Karnataka CM to do so in 40 years.

The last CM in the state to complete a full five-year term was D Devaraj Urs, also from Mysuru like Siddaramaiah, from 1972-1977. But his next term was cut short when he had to resign in 1980 after being ousted and succeeded by R Gundu Rao.

Here is the list of Karnataka CMs since then in chronological order. In this period, Karnataka has seen 19 governments and four periods of President’s rule. The only exception in this period was SM Krishna – although he was heading a stable government (1999-2004), Krishna chose to go to the polls five months before his term was scheduled to end.

R Gundu Rao: January 1980 – January 1983

A popular Congress man and a well-known badminton player of the time, Rao became the CM of the state after serving as a minister in the second D Devaraj Urs-led government. He came to power after Urs lost support of legislators following a rift within the Congress party. After his term ended, his next electoral victory came in the 1989 Lok Sabha elections.

Ramakrishna Hegde: 1983 – 1988 (three times)

A three-time CM, Hegde was incidentally also the first non-Congress CM in Karnataka after the Janata Party won the elections convincingly in 1983. But he resigned after the party performed badly in the 1984 Lok Sabha elections taking moral responsibility. He became the CM again after his party won 139 seats on its own in 1985. Later he resigned twice, in 1986 and in 1988, after allegations of corruption came up against him.

SR Bommai: August 1988 – April 1989

A leader of the Quit India movement, Janata Dal’s Bommai was a leader of the masses and was made the CM after his predecessor Ramakrishna Hegde resigned for the third time. But his stint as a CM was a short one. During a change within the Janata Party and the formation of Lok Dal, the Governor dismissed his government without letting him prove majority. The Supreme Court case that followed, which set limitations to the Governor’s powers, is a major landmark in the political history of the country.

Veerendra Patil: November 1989 – October 1990

A heavyweight leader from Gulbarga who had previously served as CM for three years from 1968-1971, Patil was made the CM again after the Congress returned to power in the 1989 elections. He was removed from the post by the party high command and the then governor ordered President’s rule for the interim period.

S Bangarappa: October 1990 – November 1992

Bangarappa, a politician who was known to switch affiliations, was made the chief minister by the then Congress president Rajiv Gandhi. Later, Bangarappa was forced to resign by the party’s central leadership.

Veerappa Moily: November 1992 – December 1994

A senior leader and a former minister in the Karnataka government in the 1970s, Moily was elected as the CM after then PM Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, with the insistence of then Kerala CM K Karunakaran.wanted him to succeed S Bangarappa. His term ended when the Congress government completed five years.

HD Deve Gowda: December 1994 – May 1996

The former Congress leader and the co-founder of the Janata Dal stormed to power with the Janata Dal winning 115 seats in the Assembly elections in 1994. Being the tallest leader in the state, he was the natural choice for the CM’s post. He resigned from his post after he became the country’s accidental Prime Minister in 1996.

JH Patel: May 1996 – October 1999

Jayadevappa Halappa Patel of the Janata Dal became the CM of the state after HD Deve Gowda unexpectedly became the country’s Prime Minister with three years still left for the 115 member strong JD(S) legislature party to rule the state. Patel was then chosen to rule for the remaining tenure.

SM Krishna: 1999 – 2004

In 1999, SM Krishna led the Congress party to victory in the state polls and took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a post he held until 2004. He might have completed his full five-year term if he hadn’t decided to go in for early polls, five months before his term was scheduled to end.

Dharam Singh: May 2004 – January 2006

In the 2004 elections, the JD(S) had 58 seats while the Congress had 65 seats, which resulted in the JD(S)-Congress forming the first coalition government in the state. Senior leader Dharam Singh was elected the chief minister until the JD(S) decided to pull out of the government two years later citing high-handedness by the Congress politicians in the state.

HD Kumaraswamy: February 2006 – October 2007

Son of former PM HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy became the 25th chief minister of the state after the JD(S) broke its coalition with the Congress and decided to form an alliance with the BJP to form the government. He became CM with the BJP agreeing to its leader BS Yeddyurappa becoming the deputy CM. Incidentally, this led to Deve Gowda quitting as the party's national president protesting his son's move to join "communal forces".

In 2007, Kumaraswamy resigned after drama over the power-sharing agreement between the JD(S) and the BJP, and the state was put under President's rule two days later. However, he later offered support to the BJP and Yeddyurappa was sworn in as Chief Minister.

November 2007 – May 2008: President’s rule

BS Yeddyurappa: May 2008 – July 2011

After being the CM for seven days in November 2007 during the BJP-JD(S) combine rule in the state, and a spell of President’s rule, Yeddyurappa led the BJP to a big victory and won 110 seats. He chose to resign in 2011 following his indictment in an illegal mining case by the state’s Lokayukta.

DV Sadananda Gowda: August 2011 – July 2012

The current Union minister got the CM’s chair for a year after Yeddyurappa resigned. Though handpicked by Yeddyurappa, within a few months of becoming CM, he clashed with Yeddyurappa and was unable to bring the different factions of the party together. In July 2012, he was asked to resign by the party high command to make way for Jagadish Shettar.

Jagadish Shettar: July 2012 – May 2013

CM Siddaramaiah’s predecessor, the current Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Jagadish Shettar was brought in by the BJP central leadership after Sadanada Gowda resigned. Shettar resigned as Chief Minister after the BJP lost the assembly polls in May 2013.

Assembly elections in Karnataka will be held on May 12 before the Siddaramaiah government finishes its full five-year term on May 28, the Election Commission of India announced on Tuesday.

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