Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947) is an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress and the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He first held the office from 2013 to 2018, completing a full five-year term, and returned in May 2023. A leader of the backward Kuruba community with roots in the socialist Janata movement, he has presented more state budgets than anyone else in Karnataka and is known for welfare schemes aimed at the poor.
Quick Facts
| Full name | Siddaramaiah |
| Born | 3 August 1947, Siddaramanahundi, Mysore district, Karnataka, India |
| Age | 79 |
| Party | Indian National Congress (since 2006); earlier Janata Dal and Janata Dal (Secular) |
| Office | Chief Minister of Karnataka (2013–2018, 2023–present) |
| Constituency | Varuna, Mysuru district |
| Education | University of Mysore (B.Sc., LL.B.) |
| Spouse | Parvathi |
| Children | Yathindra; Rakesh (d. 2016) |
Early Life
Siddaramaiah was born into a farming family in a village near Mysuru and had no formal schooling until he was ten, spending his early years grazing cattle and learning folk dance. He went on to take degrees in science and law from the University of Mysore, practised as a lawyer and taught law for a time. He was drawn to the socialist ideas of Ram Manohar Lohia.
Political Career
He won the Chamundeshwari seat as an independent in 1983 and joined the Janata Party. He was a minister under Ramakrishna Hegde and later Finance Minister and twice Deputy Chief Minister in Janata Dal governments. When the party split he went with H. D. Deve Gowda‘s Janata Dal (Secular), but he was expelled in 2005 after falling out with Deve Gowda.
He joined the Congress in 2006 and led it to a majority in 2013. His government launched Anna Bhagya, giving free rice to poor families, Ksheera Bhagya, giving milk to schoolchildren, and Indira Canteens serving cheap meals.
The Congress won the May 2023 election on the promise of five “guarantees”: free bus travel for women, a monthly payment to women heading households, free electricity up to 200 units, extra free grain and an allowance for unemployed graduates. The party chose Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister over the state party chief, D. K. Shivakumar, who became his deputy. In 2024 he faced allegations over house sites allotted to his wife by the Mysuru urban development authority; his wife returned the sites, he denied wrongdoing and the anti-corruption ombudsman’s police found no evidence against him.
Personal Life
He is married to Parvathi. His elder son, Rakesh, died in 2016; his younger son, Yathindra, is a doctor and legislator.
Frequently Asked Questions
When and where was Siddaramaiah born?
Siddaramaiah was born on 3 August 1947 in Siddaramanahundi, Mysore district, Karnataka, India and is 79 years old.
Featured image: Siddaramaiah (left), Chief Minister of Karnataka, meets Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan, New Delhi, December 2014. Photo by Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, licensed under Government Open Data License – India, via Wikimedia Commons.
