‘Statesman and visionary who turned Bengaluru into Silicon Valley of India’: Karnataka legislators pay tributes to S M Krishna
Former chief minister and external affairs minister S M Krishna, who retired from active politics last year, died on Tuesday at age 92.
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Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka noted that Krishna was a great tennis enthusiast and used to play the game regularly. (File Photo)Several Karnataka legislators recalled their association with former chief minister and external affairs minister S M Krishna, who passed away on Tuesday, and hailed his contribution to the state’s development during a condolence motion in both Houses of the legislature.
Speaking at the Legislative Assembly, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said he along with his supporters such as Social Welfare Minister H C Mahadevappa and Public Works Department minister Satish Jarkiholi was advised by Krishna to join the Congress after his expulsion from the JD(S). “I had met him when he was the governor of Maharashtra to seek his guidance regarding joining the Congress,” he said.
Siddaramaiah recalled that his first memory of Krishna dated back to 1968, when as a college student he attended a townhall meeting when the former chief minister was contesting a Lok Sabha bypoll as a Praja Socialist Party candidate. “He was a good orator and parliamentarian with a long political career,” the chief minister said, noting that Krishna was among a handful of legislators who were elected to both houses of the state legislature and Parliament.
“It was during his tenure as CM that Bengaluru came to be known as Silicon Valley of India,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that his contribution to the development of the state capital was immense. Though Krishna’s dream of “turning Bengaluru into Singapore” was not realised, he succeeded in transforming Bengaluru into an international hub, he added.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka noted that Krishna was a great tennis enthusiast and used to play the game regularly apart from regularly visiting Wimbledon in England. “Krishna brought dignity to the city of Bengaluru. He created an atmosphere due to which leaders from any country prefer to visit the city after arriving in New Delhi,” the BJP leader said.
It was during Krishna’s tenure as chief minister that work on Bengaluru Metro and the international airport was launched, Ashoka said, highlighting the challenges he had faced during the period, such as recurring droughts and the Kambalapalli massacre.
At the Legislative Council, BJP MLC A H Vishwanath, who was Krishna’s colleague in the state cabinet, recalled that he had written about Krishna’s romantic relationship with Kannada actor B Saroja Devi in his book Halli Hakkiya Haadu.
“This created a controversy in the state and I also sent him a copy of the book when he was the Maharashtra governor. I called him up to ask whether he was saddened by what I had written in the book. He replied that I had written the truth. ‘What is there to be sad about?’ he asked me,” Vishwanath said.
Several MLAs also demanded a statue of Krishna be installed on the Vidhana Soudha premises.
Krishna, who retired from active politics last year, died at the age of 92.
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