S. M. Krishna Biography

Born on 1st May 1932, Somanahalli Mallaiah Krishna is an Indian politician and the current Minister of External Affairs, Government of India since 2009. He is a member of the Indian Parliament from Karnataka in the Rajya Sabha and served his term as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1999 to 2004 and the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008. S.M. Krishna was born in Somanahalli of Mandya District, Karnataka.

His father’s name is Late Shri S.C. Mallaiah and mother’s name is Late Shrimati Thayamma. He was married on 29 April 1964 to Prema Krishna and has two daughters.

S. M. Krishna completed his Bachelor’s degree in Arts from Maharaja’s College, Mysore and attained a Law degree from the University Law College, Bangalore. As a bright Scholar, he also studied in the United States and graduated from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas and The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C, where he was. When he returned to India, he got elected to the Karnataka legislative assembly in 1962. S.M. Krishna is a keen reader and a lover of tennis. He is a traveler and has traveled in many countries including Asia, Europe, Africa, USA, Australia and New Zealand.

Political Career:

S.M. Krishna has held several positions in his political career. From 1962 to 1967, he was the Member of 3rd Karnataka Legislative Assembly, Member of Indian Parliamentary Delegation to Commonwealth and the member of Parliamentary Conference in New Zealand. From 1971 to 1982, he was the member of the 5th and 7th Lok Sabha, the member of Karnataka Legislative Council and the Minister for Commerce & Industries & Parliamentary Affairs, Government of Karnataka. From 1982 to 1994, Krishna became the member of Indian Delegation to the United Nations, the Union Minister of State for Industry, the Union Minister of State for Finance, the member and speaker of the 9th Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the Delegate to Commonwealth Parliamentary Seminar at West Minister, UK and the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.

In 1996, S.M. Krishna was elected to Rajya Sabha and soon in 1999 he became the Chief Minister of Karnataka till 2004. He got re-elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly in the same year and became the Governor of Maharashtra from 2004 to 2008. On 22 May 2009, S.M. Krishna took the oath of office as a Union Cabinet Minister of External Affairs in the Council of Ministers under the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. At present he represents the Indian National Congress party and is the current Minister of External affairs.