Bengaluru: Only three Chief Ministers — all from the Congress — have been able to complete their full five-year term in the history of Karnataka politics. S Nijalingappa (1962-68), D Devaraj Urs (1972-77) and Siddaramaiah (2013-2018) were the Chief Ministers who had completed their full term. No chief minister from the BJP and JDS could manage to complete the full term in the state.
Virendra Patil is one of the most prominent names among those who have lost power. In 1989, he was admitted to a hospital with some health issues. During that time he was forcibly removed from the position of Chief Minister. After Virendra Patil, S Bangarappa took oath as Karnataka Chief Minister but he was dismissed from the position on charges of corruption. After this, Veerappa Moily came into power but before he could complete his two years in office, elections were held again and he did not return to power as Congress did not get a majority.
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But HD Devegowda came to power because Janata Parivar got a majority. When he completed one and half years as a CM he got a call for the Prime Minister's post, so HD Devegowda handed over his powers to JH Patel. JH Patel ruled for three years as Karnataka CM, but his party failed to win in the election and he lost power. In 1999, the Congress government headed by SM Krishna came to power.
In 2004, the Congress- JDS coalition government came to power. Dharam Singh took over as the Chief Minister and led the state for a year and a half. But when JDS took the support back, this coalition government ended. After this development, in 2006 BJP- JDS coalition government came to power and HD Kumaraswamy took an oath as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
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Kumaraswamy's first stint as Chief Minister in the BJP-led coalition government lasted less than two years from February 2006 to October 2007. He had a disagreement over power-sharing with the BJP and refused to support the saffron party-led government in the state. His second term as the Chief Minister in the Congress-JDS government began in May 2018 after a hung verdict in the Assembly election.
In the case of the BJP, BS Yeddyurappa became the Chief Minister for the first time in 2007 but remained in office for only seven days after the JDS withdrew support and the President's rule was imposed in the state. In May 2008, Yeddyurappa led the BJP to a historic victory in the state and became Chief Minister for a second time, but he had to quit in July 2011 due to alleged corruption. Then DV Sadanandagowda became CM and he also resigned very soon. Jagadish Shetter became CM as BJP's third Chief Minister at one time. The Congress came to power in 2013 with the announcement of the Assembly elections before the year was over.
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Siddaramaiah became the Chief Minister and he completed 5 years. When BJP emerged as the largest party in 2018, BS Yeddyurappa once again took oath as Chief Minister. He resigned from his position on the 6th day after he did not get a majority. Again JDS -Congress coalition government came to power and once again HD Kumaraswamy became the Chief Minister of Karnataka but lost his power after completing one year when in a major political development, 17 MLAs joined BJP through operation Kamala. Again in 2019, BS Yediyurappa became the Chief Minister of Karnataka but he resigned on July 26, before completing his full term.
