K. Siddaramaiah is the 22nd Chief Minister of the state of Karnataka. At present he is the leader of the Indian National Congress party in Karnataka. He has also been a member of many Janata Parivar parties for a number of years. Previously, he was a leader of the Janata Dal (Secular) party. On two occasions he had also played the role of the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is also a leader of the Kuruba (shepherd) community in Karnataka. On 13th May 2013, Siddaramaiah was sworn in as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka.
Siddaramaiah was born on 12th August 1948 in Siddaramanahundi village, Varuna Hobli, Mysore District. He was born to Siddaramegowda and Boramma in a farmer family and is the second amongst five siblings. Siddaramaiah received no formal schooling till he was ten years old but he went on to do his B.Sc and Bachelor of Law degree from Mysore University. Siddaramaiah is married to Parvathi and has two sons, Yathindra and Rakesh.
In 1978, Siddaramaiah began his political career when he contested on a Bharatiya Lok Dal ticket from the Chamundeshwari constituency. In 1983, he entered the 7th Karnataka Legislative Assembly and attained a surprise victory, earning him fame in the old Mysore region.
Later on, he joined the Janata Party and became the first president of Kannada Watchdog Committee (Kannada Kavalu Samiti) which was set up to administer the implementation of Kannada as the state's official language.
In the 1985 mid-term polls, Siddaramaiah was re-elected from the same constituency and was made the Minister for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services. He has also handled various portfolios at different stages such as Transport, Animal Husbandry, Sericulture, etc.
In the 1989 Assembly elections, Siddaramaiah suffered defeat when Congress' Rajashekaramurthy won and later in 1992, he was chosen as the Secretary General of Janata Dal.
In the 1994 State Elections, he was elected again and became the Minister for Finance in the Janata Dal government and in 1996 he became the Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka.
After splitting with Janata Dal, Siddaramaiah joined the Janata Dal (Secular) party of Deve Gowda and became the president of its state component. However, he lost the 1999 state elections. In 2004, he was again appointed as Deputy Chief Minister.
In 2006, Siddaramaiah was expelled from JD (S). He then acquired mass support from the backward classes and joined the Congress party. In the 2008 state Assembly elections, he was re-elected for the fifth time from the Varuna Constituency.
In the 2013 Karnataka elections on 8th May 2013, the congress won the elections and Siddaramaiah was elected as the leader of the Congress legislative party in Karnataka on 10th May 2013. On 13th May 2013 he was made the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
| Sl.No. | Name of Chief Ministers | From | To | Party |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K. Chengalaraya Reddy | Oct 25, 1947 | Mar 30, 1952 | INC |
| 2 | Kengal Hanumanthaiah | Mar 30, 1952 | Aug 19, 1956 | INC |
| 3 | Kadidal Manjappa | Aug 19, 1956 | Oct 31, 1956 | INC |
| 4 | S. Nijalingappa | Nov 1, 1956 | Apr 10, 1957 | INC |
| 5 | S. Nijalingappa | Apr 10, 1957 | May 16, 1958 | INC |
| 6 | B. D. Jatti | May 16, 1958 | Mar 9, 1962 | INC |
| 7 | S. R. Kanthi | Mar 14, 1962 | Jun 20, 1962 | INC |
| 8 | S. Nijalingappa | Jun 21, 1962 | Mar 3, 1967 | INC |
| 9 | S. Nijalingappa | Mar 3, 1967 | May 29, 1968 | |
| 10 | Veerendra Patil | May 29, 1968 | Mar 18, 1971 | INC |
| President's rule | Mar 19, 1971 | Mar 20, 1972 | ||
| 11 | D. Devaraj Urs | Mar 20, 1972 | Dec 31, 1977 | INC |
| President's rule | Dec 31, 1977 | Feb 28, 1978 | ||
| 12 | D. Devaraj Urs | Feb 28, 1978 | Jan 7, 1980 | INC |
| 13 | R. Gundu Rao | Jan 12, 1980 | Jan 6, 1983 | INC |
| 14 | Ramakrishna Hegde | Jan 10, 1983 | Dec 29, 1984 | JNP |
| 15 | Ramakrishna Hegde | Mar 8, 1985 | Feb 13, 1986 | JNP |
| 16 | Ramakrishna Hegde | Feb 16, 1986 | Aug 10, 1988 | JNP |
| 17 | S. R. Bommai | Aug 13, 1988 | Apr 21, 1989 | JNP |
| President's rule | Apr 21, 1989 | Nov 30, 1989 | ||
| 18 | Veerendra Patil | Nov 30, 1989 | Oct 10, 1990 | INC |
| President's rule | Oct 10, 1990 | Oct 17, 1990 | ||
| 19 | S. Bangarappa | Oct 17, 1990 | Nov 19, 1992 | INC |
| 20 | M. Veerappa Moily | Nov 19, 1992 | Dec 11, 1994 | INC |
| 21 | H. D. Deve Gowda | Dec 11, 1994 | May 31, 1996 | JD |
| 22 | J. H. Patel | May 31, 1996 | Oct 7, 1999 | JD |
| 23 | S. M. Krishna | Oct 11, 1999 | May 28, 2004 | INC |
| 24 | Dharam Singh | May 28, 2004 | Jan 28, 2006 | INC, JD(S) |
| 25 | H. D. Kumaraswamy | Feb 3, 2006 | Oct 8, 2007 | BJP-JD(S) |
| President's rule | Oct 9, 2007 | Nov 11, 2007 | ||
| 26 | B. S. Yeddyurappa | Nov 12, 2007 | Nov 19, 2007 | BJP |
| President's rule | Nov 20, 2007 | May 29, 2008 | ||
| 27 | B. S. Yeddyurappa | May 30, 2008 | Jul 31, 2011 | BJP |
| 28 | D. V. Sadananda Gowda | Aug 4, 2011 | Jul 12, 2012 | BJP |
| 29 | Jagadish Shettar | Jul 12, 2012 | May 12, 2013 | BJP |
| 30 | Siddaramaiah | May 13, 2013 | Present | INC |
