Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna, popularly known as S.M. Krishna, is an Indian Politician, a member of the Indian Parliament in the Rajya Sabha and the former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Government of India. He has been the Minister of External Affairs since May 2009 to October 2012. He is also the former Governor of the state Maharashtra, India. He served the office of governor from 2004 to 2009. As a member of the Indian Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha, he has also served as the Chief Minister of the Southern state of Karnataka from October 1999 to May 2004. He was one of the highly educated Chief Ministers of Karnataka.
Early Life of S.M. Krishna
S.M. Krishna was born in a village called `Somanahalli` in the Maddur Taluk of Mandya District in 1932 to Late S.C. Mallaiah and Late Thayamma. He graduated in Arts from Maharaja`s College, Mysore and received his Law degree from Government Law College, Bengaluru. After that he went to United States to study and studied at the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and George Washington University, Washington D.C. He was a Fulbright Scholar. After coming back in India, he joined Renukacharya Law College, Bengaluru as a Professor of International Law.
Political Career of S.M. Krishna
In 1962, Krishna was nominated to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. In 1968, he made his first appearance in Indian Parliament and became a Member of the fourth Lok Sabha. S. M. Krishna was elected to the fifth Lok Sabha. However, he favoured to return to State Politics when he was elected to the Legislative Council in the year 1972. He was inducted as Minister for Commerce, Industries and Parliamentary Affairs. He held the charge till 1977. He returned to Lok Sabha in 1980, and was made Minister of State for Industry during 1983-84 under Indira Gandhi, and Minister of State for Finance during 1984-85 under Rajiv Gandhi.
In 1989, he became the Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly. This post he held till 1992. In the year 1992, he became the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. He was elected to Rajya Sabha in 1996 and till October 1999, he was its member. Making Bengaluru investor friendly, he has contributed a lot. The partnership between the government and private sector was mainly encouraged by him. The commencement of the Bengaluru Action Task Force (BATF) is particular in that sense during his tenure ship as the chief minister of the state. Many initiatives were introduced by him in order to encourage investment in the Information Technology and BPO/ITES sectors. He is considered to be a very capable Chief Minister and an efficient administrator of the state of Karnataka. As Chief Minister of the state, he gave prime importance to the infrastructure management and improvement of the state as a whole.
In 1999, as KPCC president, he led his party to victory in the assembly polls and took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a post he held till 2004. He was also instrumental in creating power reforms with ESCOMS. He encouraged private public participation and was a forbearer of the Bangalore Advance Task Force. He later became the Governor of Maharashtra.
Important Posts Held by S.M. Krishna
•Member, Praja Socialist Party (formerly)
•Member of 3rd Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1962-67
•Member, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Commonwealth
•Parliamentary Conference, New Zealand, 1965
•Member, 4th Lok Sabha 1968-70
•Member, 5th Lok Sabha 1971-72
•Member, Karnataka Legislative Council 1972-77
•Minister for Commerce, Industries and Parliamentary Affairs,
•Government of Karnataka 1972-77
•Member, Indian Delegation to the United Nations, 1982
•Union Minister of State for Industry during 1983-84
•Union Minister of State for Finance during 1984-85
•Member, 9th Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989-94
•Speaker, Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989-92
•Delegate to Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar at West Minster, U.K. in March 1990
•Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka 1992-94
•Member, Rajya Sabha from April 1996 to October 1999.
•Chief Minister of Karnataka from 11th October 1999 to 20th May 2004.
•President KPCC from February 1999 to June 2000.
•Governor of Maharashtra since 6th December 2004
•Governor, Maharastra: 2004-2008
•External Affairs Minister, Government of India: 22 May 2009 to October 2012.
S.M. Krishna filed his resignation as the Governor of Maharastra on 5 March 2008. (Former) President of India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil, accepted his resignation on 6th March. Subsequently, S.M. Krishna entered the upper house of the parliament, Rajya Sabha and took the oath of office as a Union Cabinet Minister of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on 22 May 2009.
He has also been associated with the World University Service. S.M. Krishna is an enthusiastic sportsperson and plays tennis regularly.
Personal Life of S.M. Krishna
On April 29, 1964, he married Prema and the couple has two daughters. He is by profession Attorney-At-Law.