The Karnataka government declared a holiday to all government offices and schools and colleges on Wednesday as mark of respect for veteran politician and former Chief Minister S M Krishna.
The government announced state mourning for three days from December 10 to 12, according to an official notification. During this period, there will be no official entertainment programmes and the national flag will be flown at half mast in all government buildings.
SM Krishna died on Tuesday after prolonged illness at the age of 92 leaving behind his wife and two daughters. His last rites will be performed with full state honours at Somanahalli in Mandya district tomorrow.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his cabinet colleagues S Jaishankar and Nirmala Sitharaman and Congress president Mallijkarjun Kharge and other leaders paid rich tributes to Krishna. Former PM and JD(S) patriarch HD Deve Gowda, Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu–N Chandrababu Naidu, Siddaramaiah and M K Stalin, respectively and host of leaders also mourned Krishna’s demise.
SM Krishna – The astute politician who donned many hats
Born in Somanahalli in Karnataka’s Mandya district on May 1, 1932. A graduate of Maharaja’s College, Mysuru, he obtained a law degree from the Government Law College here. Further, he studied at Southern Methodist University, Dallas, US, and later at George Washington University, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. In India, he worked as a Professor of International Law at Renukacharya Law College.
From being a minister on different occasions in the state and at the central government and a Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha member to heading the Congress in Karnataka — he indeed had a long innings. He served as a member of the legislative Council and Assembly, and had been Speaker, deputy chief minister, External Affairs Minister and Governor at different points of time.
Krishna kicked off his electoral foray in style winning as an independent candidate from Maddur seat against Congress stalwart K V Shankar Gowda in the 1962 assembly elections. He later associated himself with the Praja Socialist Party before joining the Congress.
He was chief minister from October 1999 to May 2004 and later served as the Governor of Maharashtra from December 2004 to March 2008. He was inducted as the External Affairs Minister in the Manmohan Singh-led government from May 2009 to October 2012, in the Congress-led UPA II regime.
In 2017, he joined the BJP, ending his nearly 50-year-long association with the Congress. He retired from politics on January 7, 2023.