Congress leader Siddaramaiah became Karnataka's Chief Minister after his party won 136 out of 224 state assembly seats in May 2023. Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president DK Shivakumar is his Deputy in the state. Siddaramaiah also held that position previously from 2013 to 2018, being only the second person to hold that office for a full five-year term.
Siddaramaiah was born on August 3, 1947 in Mysuru, Karnataka. He is a member of the Kuruba community, which is a Scheduled Tribe in Karnataka. Siddaramaiah studied at the University of Mysore, where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics.
Siddaramaiah was a member of various Janata Parivar factions before finally joining the Congress in 2006. Under the Janata Party and Chief Minister Ramakrishna Hegde, Siddaramaiah was appointed to his first government position in 1983. He became chairman of the erstwhile Kannada Watchdog Committee, to guard the interests of the Kannada language — a task he still considers close to his heart.
In 1996, Siddaramaiah became deputy CM under J H Patel, a post he held again in 2004 in a JD(S)-Congress coalition government. In 2006, however, Deve Gowda sacked him for floating a collective of backward castes, Dalits and minorities in the state called AHINDA, which was viewed as an anti-party activity.
Soon after, Siddaramaiah joined the Congress. In 2006, he won a bypoll from Chamundeshwari seat in his home district of Mysore by a narrow margin of 257 votes, against the combined might of the ruling JD(S)-BJP coalition.
A backward class leader with over five decades of political experience, Siddaramaiah, 75, is considered one of the three remaining mass leaders of Karnataka – alongside former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, 91, of the JD(S) and ex-CM B S Yediyurappa, 80, of the BJP.
As CM holding the Finance portfolio during his 2013-18 tenure, Siddaramaiah had implemented measures such as providing 7 kg of rice to members of BPL homes, setting up canteens selling food at low costs, allotment of substantial funds for free food grains and milk to the poor, and for schemes meant for backward classes, Dalits and minorities. Nearly 24% of the state budget was set aside annually for SC/ST communities.
Siddaramaiah has consciously projected an image of a rustic, down-to-earth politician who identifies with the problems of the downtrodden, including the Dalits.
Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka said answers for only fewer than half the unstarred questions were provided over the past five days of Assembly proceedings during the budget session.
Karnataka projected a Rs 22,000 crore shortfall for the coming fiscal. CM Siddaramaiah asserted that the release of pending central funds would have led to a surplus budget.
According to Animal Husbandry and Sericulture Minister H V Venkatesh, Karnataka Silk Industries Corporation Limited (KSIC) produced 310,667 sarees in the past three fiscals and sold 309,659 of them.
After BJP and JD(S) accuse his government of running up a bill, Karnataka CM points at Centre’s borrowings, says it did not provide the state with grants “that were due to it fairly”
The Karnataka chief minister said Rs 25 crore will be spent on developing an integrated digital traffic management platform to tackle Bengaluru’s worsening traffic congestion.
In letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart, Congress CM says Karnataka shares the concerns flagged by Justice Kurian Joseph panel, and calls for all states engaging in "constructive federal dialogue" with the Centre providing an institutional platform for it
Following renewed pressure from Shivakumar for CM’s post and the heated exchange between Siddaramaiah and Kumaraswamy, there have also been renewed calls for a Dalit CM in Karnataka
Even though most exit polls predicted a hung assembly, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is set to form the government in Karnataka with a simple majority, handing out a severe drubbing to the ruling Congress and relegating the Janata Dal (Secular) to the third spot.
The high-pitched election campaign for the Karnataka Assembly polls concluded at 5 pm on May 10 as political parties held multiple rallies in their last attempt to woo voters.
If the BJP forms the government in Karnataka, this will be its 21st state. But what does it take to get there? How is it being planned? Liz Mathew unpacks the strategy.
Bengaluru, Feb 21 (ANI): A man threw a paper bag at Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah during a function at Ravindra Kalakshetra, protesting caste bias on Sunday. The man was arrested immediately after the incident. The security officials present at the spot found that the paper bag was filled with chocolates.
Iran mission uses donations to buy 40 tonnes of medicine, unable to send them home
India10 min ago
A 40-tonne shipment of medicines bought by the Iranian embassy in India is stranded in New Delhi due to a damaged aircraft. The embassy is seeking alternative ways to deliver the urgently needed medicines, as pharmaceutical companies in Iran are under attack.
