Bengaluru: SM Krishna was the first chief minister who saw the tomorrow. He finely designed a vision for Bengaluru by pencilling in the involvement of corporate czars from the then-emerging tech world as his govt planned decongestion of the city and infrastructure for the coming millennium and its multiple challenges.
SMK, as he was popularly called, was never shy of wearing charisma on his sleeve, and carried it off as an extension of his sartorial elegance. With the future of Karnataka in focus, his four-and-a-half-year stint as chief minister was not short of controversies either.
In six decades of public life, of which nearly 50 years was in electoral politics, SMK saw up close and personal many nettlesome issues, including the abduction of Kannada superstar Rajkumar by forest brigand Veerappan and paroxysm of Cauvery disputes caused by drought. He was Union minister under two Prime Ministers, chief minister for a nearly full term, and governor of a politically and economically important state. At the fag end of his career, he joined BJP where he was made a margadarshak mandal. One cruel blow he suffered was the untimely death of his son-in-law VG Siddhartha. The Café Coffee Day founder was married to his daughter, Malavika.
Born in 1932 into a Vokkaliga family in Somanahalli village in Maddur, Mandya district, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna was a Fulbright scholar who graduated from George Washington University Law School in Washington, DC, and Southern Methodist University, Texas. He was equally at ease conversing in English and Kannada and was often called urbane for his near-obsession with developing infrastructure in Bengaluru.
IT sector in focus
His initiatives to organise investment meets like IT.com not only attracted foreign direct investments, but also shifted jobs in the technology sector from the US to the state's capital. It prompted the US administration to coin the term: ‘Bangalored'.
The challenges he faced when he was CM from 1999 to 2004 were formidable. Severe drought, which aggravated the dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu over sharing of Cauvery river water, pushed his govt to the brink of a contempt case in the Supreme Court. Under immense political pressure, he had led a padayatra in defiance of the court's order to release the river water to TN.
His overemphasis on Bengaluru development — he pledged to turn the city into a Singapore — earned him the wrath of the rural masses. It proved expensive for Congress in the 2004 assembly polls, even as Krishna's decision to advance the elections by six months was seen as a terrible misstep.
Genesis of the slide
As Congress failed to secure a simple majority in the 2004 elections, the party was forced to join hands with JD(S) and form a coalition govt. This marked the beginning of a dramatic slide in Krishna's career as his political rival and JD(S) supremo HD Deve Gowda allegedly prevailed on the Congress high command to "take Krishna away from Karnataka". Krishna was later made Maharashtra governor and efforts to return to state politics were unsuccessful.
The abduction of Kannada superstar Rajkumar by Veerappan in 2000 was the darkest event that eclipsed Krishna's govt. The way his govt handled the multi-crore stamp paper scam involving Abdul Karim Telgi did not add to Krishna's administrative acumen either.
Deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar, a close aide who came of age in politics under SMK, said, "Some of the challenges that he faced were formidable. Many still question his responses, but what Krishna did was the best he could do in the circumstances."
Krishna's political debut was spectacular as he, an independent, defeated the veteran HK Veeranna Gowda (Congress) from Maddur in 1962. He later joined Praja Socialist Party but lost his seat in 1967. After winning the Mandya Lok Sabha seat in a bypoll in 1968, he joined Congress and won twice in 1971 and 1980, and served as a Union minister under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1983-84.
Pro-poor initiatives
However, in the Vokkaliga popularity sweepstakes, urbane Krishna couldn't beat Gowda, whose grounded and rustic persona was perhaps more appealing to the peasant community. But his pro-poor initiatives included midday meal scheme in schools, health insurance Yashaswini for farmers coupled with progressive steps like setting up women self-help group Streeshakti and implementing value-added tax.
He was close to Sonia Gandhi and was appointed minister for external affairs in the Manmohan Singh cabinet. His tenure between 2009 and 2012 saw the number of passport offices in India grow from 40 to more than 400. However, embarrassing situations like his UN address when he mistakenly read a written speech of Brazil for India weighed down on his efficiency and he was eventually removed rather unceremoniously from the Union cabinet.
It led to his exit from Congress. He joined BJP even if it meant a huge compromise on his ideology in the twilight of his career.
"Krishna was no doubt one of the handsomest politicians and his charm wasn't limited to his looks," said AH Vishwanath, a minister in Krishna's cabinet. "His administration heralded an era of economic growth of Karnataka that saw Bengaluru acquiring global brand equity and earned the moniker Silicon Valley of India housing IT behemoths."