Karnataka Assembly pays tributes to Krishna, leaders hail him as ‘gentleman politician’, ‘statesman’

Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 10 (PTI) Karnataka Legislative Assembly on Tuesday paid tributes to former Chief Minister and External Affairs Minister S M Krishna, with leaders cutting across parties describing the departed leader as a “gentleman politician”, “statesman”, and lauding his contribution in making Bengaluru an IT hub.

Leaders also expressed their admiration for his dressing sense, command over language, and love for the game of tennis.

Krishna died at his residence early this morning. The 92-year-old veteran politician was ailing for quite some time.

As the House met for the day, Speaker U T Khader moved the obituary reference and described Krishna as a stalwart.

He said, in his long political life, Krishana has served all the four Houses — Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council, Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha– and he was never involved in negative thinking throughout his career.

“Krishna had no hate towards anyone, and always brought dignity to the office he held. His life is a message to young politicians. We may get good politicians, but it is difficult to get a good statesman like him,” the Speaker said.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah paid tributes to Krishna referring to him as a statesman politician and farsighted.

Highlighting the departed leader’s long political journey holding various positions, the CM said during his college days studying BSc, he was a fan of Krishna, and had supported him when he contested the 1968 Lok Sabha by-polls from the Praja Socialist Party.

Recalling that Krishna had wholeheartedly welcomed him into the Congress party, Siddaramaiah said, he was a great orator and a good parliamentarian. “He never indulged in any vendetta politics. He was a politician with a rare personality,” he added.

Leader of Opposition R Ashoka said, people of Bengaluru can never forget Krishna, like they can’t forget the founder of the city, Kempegowda. “He (Krishna) brought dignity and pride to the city.”

Remembering him as a blemishless and dignified politician, he said, “Krishna was always well dressed and clean spoken with a command over the language.”

The credit for Bengaluru getting the International Airport and the Metro rail network goes to Krishna. He tried to build the real “Brand Bengaluru” in a true sense. He had great love and admiration for the game of tennis, which he himself played, he noted.

Ministers G Parameshwara and H K Patil, who were also part of Krishna’s cabinet, shared several anecdotes of their several interactions and time spent with him.

Parameshwara stated that Krishna had a sporting attitude, as he recalled how he dealt with challenges one after the other during his tenure as chief minister, like drought, the Cauvery river dispute and agitations, kidnapping of Kannada thespian Rajkumar by forest brigand Veerappan.

He said Krishna was seen as too urban centric, but his work like starting mid-day meal programmes and ending inequality between north and south Karnataka were commendable. He was a Fulbright scholar.

Patil highlighted Krishna’s contribution to the development of north Karnataka and the thrust he gave for irrigation projects.

Several leaders across party lines praised Krishna and his contribution towards Karnataka’s development, as they paid tribute to him.

Krishna was the chief minister of Karnataka, from October 11, 1999, to May 28, 2004 (from Congress). He had served as Governor of Maharashtra and was the External Affairs Minister during the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government from 2009 to 2012.