S. M. Krishna

Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna (born 1 May 1932) is an Indian politician who served as Minister of External Affairs of India from 2009 to October 2012. A member of the Indian Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, Krishna was the 16th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the 19th Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008.

S. M. Krishna is son of S.C. Mallaiah. He was born in a village named Somanahalli in the Maddur Taluk of Mandya District. He completed his Bachelor's in Arts from Maharaja's College, Mysore and obtained a Law degree from University Law College, which was then known as Government Law College in Bangalore. Krishna studied in the United States, graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C, where he was a Fulbright Scholar. Soon after his return to India, he was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962.

He is married to Prema. They have two daughters. His son-in-law is Siddarth Hegde, who is a businessman.

Krishna(center) with US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during a reception at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

Krishna has served multiple terms as an MP from the Mandya district of Karnataka starting from 1968 in the 4th, 5th, 7th and 8th Lok Sabha. He served as minister under Indira Gandhi between 1983–84 and Rajiv Gandhi between 1984 and 1985 as minister of state for industry and finance respectively. He was member of the Rajya Sabha in the years 1996 and 2006. He was member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and council at different times. Between 1989 and 1992 he was Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly and Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.

In 1999, as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president, he led his party to victory in the assembly polls and took over as Chief Minister of Karnataka, a post he held until 2004. He was also instrumental in creating power reforms with ESCOMS and digitization of land records (BHOOMI) and many other citizen friendly initiatives. He encouraged private public participation and was a fore bearer of the Bangalore Advance Task Force. He later became the Governor of Maharashtra.

Krishna resigned as Governor of Maharashtra on 5 March 2008. It was reported that this was due to his intention to return to active politics in Karnataka. President Pratibha Patil accepted his resignation on 6 March. Krishna entered the Rajya Sabha and subsequently took the oath of office as Union Cabinet Minister of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 22 May 2009.

Krishna resigned as External Affairs Minister on 26 October 2012 indicating a return to Karnataka state politics.

• Member of 3rd Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1962–67
• Member, Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Commonwealth
• Parliamentary Conference, New Zealand, 1965
• Member, 5th Lok Sabha 1971–1976
• Member, 7th Lok Sabha 1980–1984
• Member, Karnataka Legislative Council 1972–1977
• Minister for Commerce & Industries & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Karnataka 1972–77
• Member, Indian Delegation to the United Nations, 1982
• Union Minister of State for Industry during 1983–1984
• Union Minister of State for Finance during 1984–1985
• Member, 9th Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989–1992
• Speaker, Karnataka Legislative Assembly 1989–93
• Delegate to Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar at West Minister, UK in March 1990
• Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, 1992–1994
• Elected to Rajya Sabha in April 1996
• Chief Minister of Karnataka October 1999 – 2004
• Re-elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly: 2004
• Governor, Maharashtra: 2004–2008
• Member, Rajya Sabha from Karnataka 2008 - 2014
• External Affairs Minister, Government of India: 22 May 2009 to 26 October 2012.

• "member profile". 
• "Detail profile - Archive Site of National Portal of India". Govt. of India. 

On 2 July 2012, Krishna paid a two-day visit to Tajikistan to strengthen its economic and energy ties.