Siddaramaiah: From Janata Parivar leader to Karnataka’s longest-serving CM

Siddaramaiah, once a strong anti-Congress leader from the Janata Parivar, rose through multiple political shifts to become Karnataka’s longest-serving Chief Minister. After joining Congress in 2006, he served two terms, credited with welfare schemes but also faced controversies before stepping down in 2026

Bengaluru: For a man rooted in ‘Janata Parivar’ for over two decades and known for a strident anti-Congress stance in the past, it has been a remarkable turnaround for Siddaramaiah, who managed to consolidate his position in the grand old party and went on to become the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka.

The 77-year-old senior Congress leader, who made no secret of his ambition to complete his tenure as chief minister and to sign off on a “high,” was asked to resign two years ahead of the end of his term by the Congress high command to make way for a leadership change in the state.

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During his second term as the CM, Siddaramaiah surpassed the record of Congress veteran and fellow Mysurian Devaraj Urs, becoming the longest-serving Chief Minister of Karnataka on January 7, reaching 2,792 days.

From the early 1980s to 2005, Siddaramaiah, who belonged to a poor farmer’s family, was a die-hard anti-Congressman. However, his ouster from the former Prime Minister Deve Gowda-led JD (S) brought him to a political crossroads, leading him to join in 2006, the very party he had opposed.

Siddaramaiah, an advocate, at one point in time talked about “political sanyas” and even toyed with the idea of going back to his law practice. He ruled out floating a regional outfit, saying he couldn’t muster the money or power. Both the BJP and the Congress wooed him to join them. Siddaramaiah said he did not agree with the BJP’s ideology and joined the Congress with his followers, a move considered “unthinkable” till then.

A product of the ‘Janata Parivar’, he was influenced by the socialism advocated by Ram Manohar Lohia. He left his profession as an advocate to pursue a political career, starting as a taluk board member. In the Congress party, his patience and persistence paid off, and the seasoned politician, known for his bluntness, became Chief Minister in 2013, thus realising his lifetime ambition. Such qualities once again catapulted the nine-time MLA to the top position in 2023, after a five-year gap.

After the fractured verdict in 2004, the Congress and JD(S) formed a coalition government. Siddaramaiah, then in JD(S), became Deputy Chief Minister while N Dharam Singh of the Congress became Chief Minister. Siddaramaiah always held the grievance that he had the opportunity to become Chief Minister then, but Gowda scuttled his prospects.

Following this, in 2005, Siddaramaiah, a Kuruba — the third largest caste in Karnataka — chose to position himself as a backward classes leader, by spearheading AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits) conventions, at a time when Deve Gowda’s son H D Kumaraswamy was seen as a rising star of the JD(S). He made his Assembly debut in 1983, and he was elected from Chamundeshwari constituency in Mysuru on a Lok Dal party ticket.

He was the first Chairman of the ‘Kannada Kavalu Samiti’, a watchdog committee mandated to supervise the implementation of Kannada as the official language, formed during Ramakrishna Hegde’s chief ministership. Later, he became the Sericulture Minister.

Born on August 12, 1948, at Siddaramanahundi, a village in Mysuru district, Siddaramaiah graduated from Mysore University with a BSc degree; later earned his Law degree from the same varsity, and practised law for some time.

Siddaramaiah is married to Parvati and has a son, Dr Yathindra, a Congress MLC. His elder son, Rakesh, who was once considered his political heir apparent, died in 2016.

The outgoing CM, who is popular for his populist guarantee schemes in the just-ended tenure, also faced allegations of irregularities in the allotment of MUDA sites in Mysuru to his wife. The veteran political leader, engaged in a long-drawn power tussle with his deputy and another claimant for the CM’s chair, D K Shivakumar and finally relented by stepping down as Chief Minister on Thursday, as per the “rotational power sharing formula”.