Gradually Stepping Aside Due To Age: Karnataka's SM Krishna On Retirement

Citing age as the reason, senior BJP leader and former Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna has said he is gradually stepping aside from public life and will be retiring from active politics.

The 90-year-old leader joined the BJP in March 2017, ending his nearly 50- year-long association with the Congress.

"I got to know of discussions about me not being seen much (publicly), we all should be aware of our age, at the age of 90 we cannot act as though in our 50s. Respecting that age factor, I'm gradually stepping aside from public life," Mr Krishna told reporters on Wednesday.

Asked whether he would be seen at party fora and meetings on invitation as BJP, which is focusing on the old Mysuru region for Assembly polls in April-May, he said he would decide on it when situation arises.

To a query on talks that he was being sidelined by the party in the old Mysuru region, he said, "When I'm retiring, there is no question of either being sidelined or neglected. I have voluntarily decided to move behind the screen, so there is no question of being sidelined."

The veteran leader, who is from the dominant Vokkaliga community, hails from Madduru taluk in Mandya district, a part of the Old Mysuru region.

His retirement gains significance as the BJP that is considered to be weak in the Vokkaliga community-dominated Old Mysuru region is focusing on this belt to gain full majority in the 2023 Assembly polls.

The Old Mysuru region is seen as a bastion of the JD(S), where the Congress is strong too, but the BJP is trying to make inroads. The region consists of districts like Mandya, Mysuru, Hassan, Tumakuru, Chamarajanagar, Bengaluru Rural, Kolar, and Chikkaballapur, among others.

A section of BJP leaders feels it may have some impact as party does not have a credible and tall Vokkaliga personality in the old Mysuru region. While the gap which Krishna could have filled with his presence in rallies and meetings ahead of polls, some party functionaries think it would not have much of an impact as he has not been politically active for some years now.

In response to a question as to what extent would BJP be successful in its attempt to strengthen the party in the old Mysuru region, Mr Krishna said, "Such efforts are on, to what extent it will be successful will be known in the days to come."

Asked if he was given any suggestions to the party leaders regarding the strategy for success in old Mysuru, the former Chief Minister said, "If someone asks I will give suggestions, will not force myself upon them to give my suggestion...those active in politics will be better placed to decide, as I'm not active, I can't say much."

Regarding the demand of Vokkaligas to hike reservation from 4 per cent to 12 per cent and his suggestions to the government in this regard, he said, "When I'm asked I will give my suggestion, I will not force myself on them, to give suggestions...I will share my opinion when it is required."

Mr Krishna is credited by many for putting Bengaluru on the global map, as a fillip given to the IT sector during his tenure has resulted in the city growing as "India's Silicon Valley".

He had announced his resignation from the Congress in January 2017, saying the party was in a "state of confusion" on whether it needed mass leaders or not.

Mr Krishna was the 16th 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 government from 2009 to 2012.

A law graduate, he studied in the United States graduating from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, and The George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C, where he was a Fulbright Scholar.

He started his career in electoral politics in 1962 by winning the Maddur Assembly seat as an independent by defeating Congress's K V Shankar Gowda. He was then associated with the Praja Socialist Party before joining the Congress.

Mr Krishna had served as the Speaker of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from December 1989 to January 1993. He was also a member of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha at various times from 1971 to 2014.

He was a member of both Karnataka Assembly and Council, and also had served as Deputy Chief Minister (1993 to 1994), and was Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president ahead of 1999 Assembly polls in which the party won and he became the Chief Minister.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)