Come January 4 and the memories of a man who strode Karnataka politics like a colossus across half a century and became one of the many Kannadigas to rise to eminence on the national scene, will be released at a function at Jnanabharati campus of Bangalore University. In all, six books will be released, including Krishnapatha, a compilation of the writings of 130 intellectuals on S M Krishna and his legacy, Bhavishyadarshana, a detailed account of his contribution as chief minister to the state, Statesman.
S M Krishna, which is a compilation of articles written by experts from different field, ranging from N R Narayana Murthy to Nirupama Rao, former foreign secretary and more importantly, his autobiography based on a very detailed interview with Dr Pavagada Prakash Rao. Two photo albums, one with Kannada captions and another with English captions will also be released. Present on the occasion will be the chief monk of Ramakrishna ashram, where Mr Krishna did his high school and dignitaries like former Chief Justice of India, MN Venkatachalaiah.
Interestingly, the autobiography stops at 2014 with sources saying the work on it began in 2012 when Mr Krishna completed 50 years as a Parliamentarian and legislator. However, due to various personal reasons, it could not be published at the time. Sadly two of the editors, Prof De Javare Gowda and LS Sheshagiri Rao passed away before the launch of the books.
S.M. Krishna as a young boy outside his Somanahalli residence.
Just before the 2004 Parliamentary elections, former Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh was confident that if the Congress party came back to power, AICC president, Sonia Gandhi would not accept the Prime Minister’s post. Instead, he reportedly felt that either he or then Karnataka Chief Minister, SM Krishna could be chosen for the position.
This interesting tidbit finds place in the autobiography of Mr Krishna, who spent decades in the Congress, holding positions of Chief Minister and External Affairs Minister, among others, before he switched loyalty to the Bharatiya Janata Party a few years ago.
The autobiography titled, Smiriti vahini , which is due for release next week, mentions Dr Singh’s frame of mind prior to the 2014 Parliamentary elections based on the account of late Prof K. Venkatagiri Gowda, a renowned economist, who was very close to him. Dr Singh, who was then leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha, reportedly believed that Mrs Sonia Gandhi would either offer him the post of Prime Minister or Mr Krishna as he was doing a good job as Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Mr Krishna does not go into more details, but merely makes a brief mention of it in Smirtivahini, which is the outcome of a detailed interview done by Dr Pavagada Prakash Rao. Unlike other prominent figures, Mr Krishna does not comment or offer interpretations of the incidents and events he mentions in the book, but merely recounts them with precision.
S.M. Krishna and his wife with (from left) Amarthya, Malavika Heggade, Siddharth Heggade, Shambhavi Hingorani, Umesh Dev and Ishaan.
Devaraj Urs & the Vokkaliga and Lingayat battle
One of the events Mr Krishna dwells on is the appointment of the late Devaraj Urs as Congress party president in the state. He recalls his own journey as an MLA in 1962, who lost the assembly elections in 1967 to the enter the Lok Sabha in 1968 from Mandya in the bypoll that followed the demise of its sitting MP, M.K. Shivananjappa, on a Praja Socialist Party (PSP) ticket.
It was after Mrs Indira Gandhi became Prime Minister and took major decisions like nationalisation of banks and cancellation of the privy purse that he along with other PSP members joined the Congress party. Mr Krishna says he became close to Mrs Gandhi after Mr V.V. Giri, who she backed, became President defeating the official candidate of the Congress party.
He recalls that after Mrs Indira Gandhi formed the government at the Centre, pressure started to mount on her to make Mr Siddaveerappa, a prominent Lingayat leader of the state, the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president, replacing Devaraj Urs , who was in the post at the time. Mr Krishna, who was then an MP, says he learnt that Mr Siddaveerappa would ask Mr Sahukar Chennayya, a prominent Vokkaliga leader, who had earned Mrs Gandhi’s trust, to influence her to appoint him PCC president.
Deciding to intervene, he sent his wife, Prema, to receive Mr Chennayya when he arrived at the Delhi airport and bring him to their residence. By then he had already fixed an appointment for him with Mrs Gandhi and the next day when Mr Chennayya met her, he convinced her that Mr Devaraj Urs be continued as PCC head. And that’s how the late Urs got his political rebirth in the state, he reveals.
While Mr Krishna takes no credit for giving a fresh lease of life to Mr Urs’ then lacklustre political career, his narrative throws light on the tussle between the Vokkaligas and Lingayats in the sixties and seventies in the state. With powerful Lingayats like Nijalingappa and B.D. Jatti ruling the roost, Vokkaliga leaders like Sahukar Chennayya and Mr Krishna appear to have decided to use Mr Urs , an OBC leader, to take them on.
But as subsequent developments would show, they did not reckon with a now powerful Urs, trying to break the dominance of the Vokkaligas and Lingayats as Chief Minister of the state by bringing in leaders from smaller communities to challenge them. Also, while he got Mr Krishna to resign from the Lok Sabha and return to the state as industries minister in his cabinet, very soon he nominated one of his supporters, M Lingqaiah, as chairman of the KSRTC without his knowledge, leading to serious differences between the two men.
KPCC President S.M. Krishna and former CM S. Nijalingappa, with Congress President Sonia Gandhi before she filed her nomination from Ballari constituency for the 1999 Lok Sabha Poll
Mr Krishna and others in Congress
Mr Krishna makes no attempt to hide his contempt for the late R. Gundu Rao or M. Veerappa Moily, both former Chief Ministers of the state. But he does not go into many details, only saying that although Mr Gundu Rao was very junior to him, he was perhaps appointed Chief Minister owing to his proximity to the late Sanjay Gandhi.
Later in 1988, when Mr Krishna was tipped to become KPCC president, the situation changed overnight and Mr Veerendra Patil was appointed its head and then Chief Minister in 1989.
As for Mr Veerappa Moily, Mr Krishna recalls he was a junior minister in the Urs cabinet when he himself was industries minister. In 1992 when Mr S. Bangarappa had to resign as Chief Minister over the Classic Computer case, he says the then Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao chose him to replace him and V.C. Shukla and others even conveyed this to him. But the next day, the legislature party meeting was told that Mr Veerappa Moily was appointed Chief Minister. Recalling this turn of events, Mr Krishna writes, “I was destined to rule the state later for five years, so I did not get it then.”
Deve Gowda, H D Kumaraswamy & Krishna
Mr Krishna claims that former Prime Minister, H. D. Deve Gowda and his son, H D Kumarasway enjoyed good relations with him until he became Chief Minister and they fell out later.
In fact, he says that when Mr Deve came out on parole after being arrested during the Emergency, he sent a message asking to meet him. And he arrived in an autorickshaw one day during lunch time and told him that he was fed up and wanted to join the Congress party. However, Mr Krishna says he reminded him that he had just made 18 allegations against Urs. He told him, “You also said you would take sanyaasa if you failed to prove these charges. What will happen if you join the Congress party now? It will make more sense if you said you would join the Congress if it removed Urs.” But neither Mr Gowda nor Mr S.R. Bommai, who were keen to join the Congress, did this.
In 1994, when Mr Krishna lost the assembly elections and was relatively inactive in politics, he recalls getting a call from a BJP MLA, H.N. Nanje Gowda, inviting him for lunch along with Mr. Deve Gowda, who was the Chief Minister at the time. Mr Krishna says that during lunch, Mr Deve Gowda asked him “to bless his son Kumara,” who wanted to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Kanakapura. As he disliked M.V. Chandrashekhar Murthy, the official Congress candidate from the constituency, he agreed to quietly back him, he recalls. Mr Deve Gowda then reportedly called Mr Kumaraswamy, who was outside and asked him fall at his feet. Mr Kumaraswamy even offered to come to his house the next day, but he claims he politely refused as he was a Congressman and could not be seen meeting rival party leaders. Mr Kumaraswamy went on to win the election and the rest, as they say, is history.
While Mr Krishna makes no comment on the episode that he recounts in detail, it punctures Mr Deve Gowda and Mr Kumaraswamy’s claim that they don’t believe in going to anybody’s house with a begging bowl for the sake of power.
