SM Krishna’s Last Rites at Somanahalli in Maddur
By : M B GIRISH
Update: 2024-12-10 10:40 GMT
Bengaluru: Veteran politician and former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna (93) passed away in the early hours of Tuesday at his residence in Sadashivanagar in Bengaluru city. He died at around 2.30 and his mortal remains were kept for public viewing. His final rites were conducted at his native place Somanahalli in Maddur taluk of Mandya on Wednesday.
While condoling the death of S.M. Krishna, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced State mourning for three-days (till Thursday) and declared a holiday for State Government employees and government and aided-schools on Wednesday.
Siddaramaiah directed officials concerned to hoist the national flag in half mast at all government offices and stated the final rites of Krishna will be performed with full State honours on Wednesday.
S.M. Krishna plunged into electoral politics and was initially in Praja Socialist Party in 1962 before he switched loyalties to Congress party. After serving Congress party for a long time, Krishna joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Krishna represented Maddur Assembly seat for three times and was once elected from Chamrajpet Assembly seat in Bengaluru city. He represented the Mandya Lok Sabha seat thrice. He was elected to Rajya Sabha twice and once served as an MLC.
He served as Governor of Maharashtra in 2004. After his election to Rajya Sabha, Krishna was made the Minister for External Affairs in Manmohan Singh ministry in 2009.
In the 1999 Assembly elections, Congress party came to power winning 132 seats out of 224 and then Krishna served as the Chief Minister from 1999 to 2004. During his term as Chief Minister, forest brigand Veerappan abducted Kannada thespian actor Dr Rajkumar and held him in his custody for about 108 days. Eventually, after negotiations with Veerappan through intermediaries, Dr Rajkumar was secured from Veerappan’s custody.
During his term, Karnataka witnessed severe drought owing to rain failure. Krishna came under fire over his decision to release water to Tamil Nadu as per Supreme Court’s direction. The release of water to Tamil Nadu made Krishna to shift to Chamarajpet Assembly seat in Bengaluru city leaving his native place Maddur Assembly seat. Krishna took the decision to shift owing to fear of losing the Maddur seat owing to backlash, especially from Maddur voters. He won from Chamarajpet seat in 2004.
Over the death of Krishna, Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs H.K. Patil stated the contributions of Krishna (as Chief Minister) is immense in turning Bengaluru into a major hub of information technology.
Patil recalled he was the Minister of Water Resources during Krishna as Chief Minister (1999-2004) and lauded Krishna over his shrewdness to change Mahadayi project as Kalasa-Banduri Nala project to get its approval for Detailed Project Report (DPR) from the Centre.
As the Chief Minister, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies K.H. Muniyappa said the tenure of Krishna initiated several revolutionary measures such as digitization of land records, mid-day meals scheme for school children, Mysuru-Bengaluru upgradation among many others.
Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot in his condolence message stated “The immense contributions (of Krishna) to the development of Karnataka and the nation are unforgettable. The loss is irreplaceable.”
Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar paid his last respects to former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna in Bengaluru on Tuesday.