List of chief ministers of Karnataka

Chief Minister of Karnataka
Chief Minister of Karnataka
Karnāṭakada Mukhya Mantri
	Emblem of Karnataka
	Incumbent; Siddaramaiah; since 20 May 2023
	Government of Karnataka
Style	The Honourable (Formal); Mr./Mrs. Chief Minister (Informal)
Type	Head of Government
Status	Leader of the Executive
Abbreviation	CM
Member of	Cabinet; Karnataka Legislature;
Reports to	Governor of Karnataka; Karnataka Legislature;
Residence	Anugraha, Bangalore
Seat	Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru
Nominator	Members of the Government of Karnataka in Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Appointer	Governor of Karnataka by convention based on appointees ability to command confidence in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Term length	At the confidence of the assembly; Chief minister's term is for 5 years and is subject to no term limits.
Precursor	Dewan of Mysore
Inaugural holder	K. Chengalaraya Reddy (as the chief minister of Mysore;before state's reorganization); S. Nijalingappa (as the chief minister of Mysore;after state's reorganization); D. Devaraj Urs (as the chief minister of Karnataka);
Formation	1 November 1956 (67 years ago)
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka
Salary	₹200,000 (US$2,400)/monthly; ₹2,400,000 (US$29,000)/annually;
Website	cm.karnataka.gov.in

The Chief minister of Karnataka is the chief executive officer of the government of the Indian state of Karnataka. As per the Constitution of India, the governor of Karnataka is the state's de jure head, but de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister, a template applicable to all other Indian states. Following elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the governor usually invites the political party (or a coalition of political parties) with a majority of assembly seats to form the government in the state. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose Council of Ministers is collectively responsible to the assembly. Given that he/she has the confidence of the assembly, the chief minister's term is for five years, renewable, and is subject to no term limits.^[1]

Historically, this office replaced that of the dewan of Mysore of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore with India's constitution into a republic. Since 1947, there have been a total of twenty-three chief ministers of Mysore (as the state was known before 1 November 1973) and Karnataka. A majority of them belonged to the Indian National Congress (INC) party, including the inaugural officeholder K. C. Reddy. The longest-serving chief minister, D. Devaraj Urs, held the office for over seven years in the 1970s. INC's Veerendra Patil had the largest gap between two terms (over eighteen years). One chief minister, H. D. Deve Gowda, went on to become the eleventh prime minister of India, whereas another, B. D. Jatti, served as the country's fifth vice president. B. S. Yediyurappa who was the first chief minister from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), served as the chief minister of the state for four terms in 2007, 2008, 2018 and 2019, the only one to do so. S. R. Bommai served as the chief minister representing the Janata Parivar, whose son Basavaraj Bommai became chief minister representing the BJP in 2021 becoming the second father-son duo to serve office after HD Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy. There have been six instances of president's rule in Karnataka, most recently from 2007 to 2008.

Prime ministers of Mysore State


#	Portrait		Prime Minister (Lifespan) Constituency	Term of office			Election (Term)	Party	Government	Appointed by (Dewan)
1			K. Chengalaraya Reddy (1902–1976) —	25 October 1947	26 January 1950	2 years, 93 days	Not held	Indian National Congress	Reddy	Arcot Ramasamy Mudaliar

Chief ministers of Mysore State


#	Chief Minister (Lifespan) Constituency	Term of office			Election (Term)	Party	Government	Appointed by (Rajpramukh)
Chief Ministers of Mysore State (1950–1956)
1	K. Chengalaraya Reddy (1902–1976) —	26 January 1950	30 March 1952	2 years, 64 days	Not held	Indian National Congress	Reddy	Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
2	Kengal Hanumanthaiah (1908–1980) MLA for Ramanagara	30 March 1952	19 August 1956	4 years, 142 days	1952 (1st)		Hanumanthaiah
3	Kadidal Manjappa (1908–1992) MLA for Tirthahalli	19 August 1956	31 October 1956	73 days	1952 (1st)		Manjappa

Chief Ministers of Karnataka


#	Chief Minister (Lifespan) Constituency	Term of office			Election (Term)	Party	Government	Appointed by (Governor)
Chief Minister of Mysore (following the state's reorganization)^[a]
4	S. Nijalingappa (1902–2000) MLA for Molakalmuru	1 November 1956	16 May 1958	1 year, 196 days	1952 (1st)	Indian National Congress	Nijalingappa I	Jayachamarajendra Wadiyar
4	S. Nijalingappa (1902–2000) MLA for Molakalmuru	1 November 1956	16 May 1958	1 year, 196 days	1957 (2nd)		Nijalingappa II
5	B. D. Jatti (1912–2002) MLA for Jamkhandi	16 May 1958	14 March 1962	3 years, 302 days	1957 (2nd)		Jatti
6	S. R. Kanthi (1908–1969) MLA for Hungund	14 March 1962	21 June 1962	99 days	1962 (3rd)		Kanthi
(4)	S. Nijalingappa (1902–2000) MLA for Bagalkot, until 1967 MLA for Shiggaon, from 1968	21 June 1962	29 May 1968	5 years, 343 days			Nijalingappa III	S. M. Shrinagesh
							Nijalingappa IV	G. S. Pathak
					1967 (4th)		Nijalingappa IV
7	Veerendra Patil (1924–1997) MLA for Chincholi	29 May 1968	18 March 1971	2 years, 293 days	1967 (4th)		Patil I
President's rule was imposed during the period (19 March 1971 – 20 March 1972)
8	D. Devaraj Urs (1915–1982) MLA for Hunsur	20 March 1972	31 October 1973	1 year, 225 days	1972 (5th)	Indian National Congress (R)	Urs I	Mohanlal Sukhadia
Chief Minister of Karnataka^[b]
–	D. Devaraj Urs (1915–1982) MLA for Hunsur	1 November 1973	31 December 1977	4 years, 60 days	1972 (Continued)	Indian National Congress (R)	Urs I (Continued)	Mohanlal Sukhadia (Continued)
President's rule was imposed during the period (31 December 1977 – 28 February 1978)
(8)	D. Devaraj Urs (1915–1982) MLA for Hunsur	28 February 1978	12 January 1980	1 year, 318 days	1978 (6th)	Indian National Congress (I)	Urs II	Govind Narain
9	R. Gundu Rao (1937–1993) MLA for Somwarpet	12 January 1980	6 January 1983	2 years, 359 days	1978 (6th)	Indian National Congress (I)	Gundu Rao	Govind Narain
10	Ramakrishna Hegde (1926–2004) MLA for Kanakapura, until 1985 MLA for Basavanagudi, from 1985	10 January 1983	7 March 1985^[c]	2 years, 56 days	1983 (7th)	Janata Party	Hegde I	Ashoknath Banerji
		8 March 1985	13 August 1988^[d]	3 years, 158 days	1985 (8th)		Hegde II
		8 March 1985	13 August 1988^[d]	3 years, 158 days			Hegde III
11	S. R. Bommai (1924–2007) MLA for Hubli Rural	13 August 1988	21 April 1989	251 days			Bommai	Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah
President's rule was imposed during the period (21 April – 30 November 1989)
(7)	Veerendra Patil (1924–1997) MLA for Chincholi	30 November 1989	10 October 1990	314 days	1989 (9th)	Indian National Congress	Patil II	Pendekanti Venkatasubbaiah (Continued)
President's rule was imposed during the period (10 October – 17 October 1990)
12	S. Bangarappa (1933–2011) MLA for Soraba	17 October 1990	19 November 1992	2 years, 33 days	1989 (Continued)	Indian National Congress	Bangarappa	Bhanu Pratap Singh
13	M. Veerappa Moily (born 1940) MLA for Karkala	19 November 1992	11 December 1994	2 years, 22 days	1989 (Continued)	Indian National Congress	Moily	Khurshed Alam Khan
14	H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933) MLA for Ramanagara	11 December 1994	31 May 1996	1 year, 172 days	1994 (10th)	Janata Dal	Deve Gowda
15	J. H. Patel (1930–2000) MLA for Channagiri	31 May 1996	11 October 1999	3 years, 133 days	1994 (10th)	Janata Dal	Patel
16	S. M. Krishna (born 1932) MLA for Maddur	11 October 1999	28 May 2004	4 years, 230 days	1999 (11th)	Indian National Congress	Krishna	V. S. Rama Devi
17	Dharam Singh (1936–2017) MLA for Jevargi	28 May 2004	28 January 2006	1 year, 245 days	2004 (12th)	Indian National Congress	Dharam Singh	T. N. Chaturvedi
18	H. D. Kumaraswamy (born 1959) MLA for Ramanagara	3 February 2006	8 October 2007	1 year, 247 days	2004 (12th)	Janata Dal (Secular)	Kumaraswamy I	T. N. Chaturvedi
President's rule was imposed during the period (8 October – 12 November 2007)
19	B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943) MLA for Shikaripura	12 November 2007	19 November 2007	7 days	2004 (Continued)	Bharatiya Janata Party	Yediyurappa I	Rameshwar Thakur
President's rule was imposed during the period (20 November 2007 – 29 May 2008)
(19)	B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943) MLA for Shikaripura	30 May 2008	5 August 2011	3 years, 67 days	2008 (13th)	Bharatiya Janata Party	Yediyurappa II	Rameshwar Thakur (Continued)
20	D. V. Sadananda Gowda (born 1953) MLC	5 August 2011	12 July 2012	342 days			Sadananda Gowda	H. R. Bhardwaj
21	Jagadish Shettar (born 1955) MLA for Hubli-Dharwad Central	12 July 2012	13 May 2013	305 days			Shettar
22	Siddaramaiah (born 1947) MLA for Varuna	13 May 2013	17 May 2018	5 years, 4 days	2013 (14th)	Indian National Congress	Siddaramaiah I
(19)	B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943) MLA for Shikaripura	17 May 2018	20 May 2018	3 days	2018 (15th)	Bharatiya Janata Party	–	Vajubhai Vala
(18)	H. D. Kumaraswamy (born 1959) MLA for Channapatna	23 May 2018	23 July 2019	1 year, 61 days		Janata Dal (Secular)	Kumaraswamy II
(19)	B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943) MLA for Shikaripura	26 July 2019	28 July 2021	2 years, 2 days		Bharatiya Janata Party	Yediyurappa III
23	Basavaraj Bommai (born 1960) MLA for Shiggaon	28 July 2021	20 May 2023	1 year, 296 days		Bharatiya Janata Party	Basavaraj Bommai	Thawar Chand Gehlot
(22)	Siddaramaiah (born 1947) MLA for Varuna	20 May 2023	Incumbent	1 year, 35 days	2023 (16th)	Indian National Congress	Siddaramaiah II	Thawar Chand Gehlot

Notes

^ On 1 November 1956, via the States Reorganisation Act, Mysore State was significantly expanded along linguistic lines. The Kannada-speaking districts of Bombay, Hyderabad and Madras states, as well as the entirety of Coorg, were added to it.^[2]
^ On 1 November 1973, via the Mysore State (Alteration of Name) Act, Mysore State was renamed as Karnataka.^[2] Thus, Devaraj Urs was Chief Minister of Mysore between 20 March 1972 and 31 October 1973, and Chief Minister of Karnataka after that.
^ According to Frontline magazine, "Following the poor performance of the Janata Party in the 1984 [general] elections (it won only four out of the 28 seats), Hegde resigned because his party had lost its popular mandate. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi allowed him to head a caretaker government. In the 1985 [assembly] elections, the Janata Party came to power with a comfortable majority."^[3]
^ According to Frontline, Hegde resigned "in February 1986 when the Karnataka High Court censured his government for the way it handled arrack bottling contracts".^[3] He withdrew his resignation after a couple of days, "following pressure from his party legislators".^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b Durga Das Basu (1960). Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur: LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa. pp. 241, 245. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9.
^ ^a ^b M. S. Prabhakara. "New names for old". The Hindu. 24 July 2007.
^ ^a ^b Menon, Parvathi (13 February 2004). "A politician with elan: Ramakrishna Hegde, 1926–2004". Frontline. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
^ Jayaram, A. (13 January 2004). "Pillar of anti-Congress movement". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

[3] On 1 November 1956, via the States Reorganisation Act, Mysore State was significantly expanded along linguistic lines. The Kannada-speaking districts of Bombay, Hyderabad and Madras states, as well as the entirety of Coorg, were added to it.^[2]

[4] On 1 November 1973, via the Mysore State (Alteration of Name) Act, Mysore State was renamed as Karnataka.^[2] Thus, Devaraj Urs was Chief Minister of Mysore between 20 March 1972 and 31 October 1973, and Chief Minister of Karnataka after that.

[6] According to Frontline magazine, "Following the poor performance of the Janata Party in the 1984 [general] elections (it won only four out of the 28 seats), Hegde resigned because his party had lost its popular mandate. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi allowed him to head a caretaker government. In the 1985 [assembly] elections, the Janata Party came to power with a comfortable majority."^[3]

[8] According to Frontline, Hegde resigned "in February 1986 when the Karnataka High Court censured his government for the way it handled arrack bottling contracts".^[3] He withdrew his resignation after a couple of days, "following pressure from his party legislators".^[4]

[term1-1] Durga Das Basu (1960). Introduction to the Constitution of India. Nagpur: LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa. pp. 241, 245. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9.

[renaming-2] M. S. Prabhakara. "New names for old". The Hindu. 24 July 2007.

[FL-5] Menon, Parvathi (13 February 2004). "A politician with elan: Ramakrishna Hegde, 1926–2004". Frontline. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

[7] Jayaram, A. (13 January 2004). "Pillar of anti-Congress movement". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 December 2023.

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