Siddaramaiah: 5 Facts About The New Karnataka Chief Minister

After a four-day wait, the Congress party has formally announced Siddaramaiah as the new Chief Minister of Karnataka and DK Shivakumar is set to be his sole deputy.

Here are 5 Interesting facts on Siddaramaiah:

• Siddaramaiah was born in Siddapura village in Mysore district in 1953. He belongs to the Kuruba community, which is a Scheduled Tribe in Karnataka. The Kurubas are a peasant community and they are the largest Scheduled Tribe in Karnataka.
• Siddaramaiah, aged 75, is set to become the first Chief Minister since D Devraj Urs (1972-1980) to serve a full term in office and then return for a second term. Notably, Urs's second term was relatively short, lasting less than two years. During his first term, Urs served during the Emergency period declared by Indira Gandhi.
• Siddaramaiah holds the distinction of being the first Chief Minister to complete a term, lose an election, and then return to office as Chief Minister. In contrast, Urs had won his second election while serving as the incumbent Chief Minister. The last incumbent Chief Minister to secure re-election was Ramakrishna Hegde, who, after his first term (1983-85), called for mid-term polls. Hegde emerged victorious in 1985 and remained Chief Minister until 1988.
• If Siddaramaiah completes his current term, he will become the only Chief Minister in Karnataka's history to serve two full terms. In comparison, the four-time Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa did not manage to complete a single term.
• Having joined the Congress party in 2006 after his stint with the Janata Dal (Secular), Siddaramaiah stands as the only Congress leader to have enjoyed a five-year term as Chief Minister.