Chief Minister of Karnataka

Chief Minister of Karnataka
Karnāṭakada Mukhyamantri
Emblem of Karnataka
Flag of India
Incumbent D. K. Shivakumar since 3 June 2026
Chief Minister's Office Government of Karnataka
Style	The Honourable
Type	Leader of the Executive
Status	Head of government
Member of	State Cabinet State Legislature
Reports to	Governor of Karnataka Karnataka Legislature
Residence	Anugraha, Bangalore
Seat	Vidhana Soudha, Bengaluru
Nominator	MLAs of the majority party of alliance
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.[1]
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 (69 years ago) (1956-11-01)
Deputy	Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka
Salary	₹200,000 (US$2,100)/monthly ₹2,400,000 (US$25,000)/annually
Website	cm.karnataka.gov.in

The Chief Minister of Karnataka is the head of government of the Indian state of Karnataka. As per the Constitution of India, the governor is the state's de jure head, while the de facto executive authority rests with the chief minister. Following elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, the state's 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] Usually, the chief minister also serves as leader of the house in the legislative assembly.^[2]

The office traces its lineage to the dewan of Mysuru, the chief minister of the princely Kingdom of Mysore under the British Raj. After Indian independence in 1947, this became the office of prime minister of Mysuru State, which was in turn redesignated chief minister when Mysuru became a constituent state of the newly declared Republic of India in 1950. The state, expanded along linguistic lines in 1956, was renamed Karnataka in 1973, and the office has been styled Chief Minister of Karnataka ever since. Since 1947, twenty-one people have held the position, an overwhelming majority of them from the Indian National Congress (INC), which has supplied twelve of the twenty-one officeholders and accounted for the bulk of the office's cumulative tenure. INC's dominance was broken only intermittently: by Ramakrishna Hegde of the Janata Party in 1983, the first chief minister unaffiliated with Congress or its breakaway factions; by two terms of Janata Dal-descended governments in the 1990s and 2000s, including the Janata Dal (Secular) premierships of Deve Gowda and HD Kumaraswamy; and, from 2007 onward, by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), whose B. S. Yediyurappa became Karnataka's first BJP chief minister and, across four separate terms, the only person to hold the office that many times.

Tenures have varied widely in length and stability. Siddaramaiah holds the record for the longest single stint, at eight years and eighteen days across two terms, while Veerendra Patil had the longest gap between his two periods in office, at over eighteen years. The state has also seen recurring interruptions: six spells of President's rule, most recently from November 2007 to May 2008, during which the office fell vacant and administration passed to the governor. Two father–son pairs have held the post — Deve Gowda and Kumaraswamy of the JD(S), and S. R. Bommai and his son Basavaraj Bommai of the BJP — and two former chief ministers went on to higher national office: B. D. Jatti, chief minister from 1958 to 1962, later became India's fifth Vice President in 1974,^[3] while Deve Gowda became the eleventh Prime Minister in 1996.^[4] D. K. Shivakumar became the twenty-first and incumbent chief minister on 3 June 2026, succeeding Siddaramaiah.

Predecessors

Prime ministers of Mysore State

The Princely state of Kingdom of Mysuru, which existed during the British Raj, was organised into Mysuru state after the Indian Independence in 1947.^[5]

#	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Term[6] (tenure length)			Assembly[7] (election)	Party[a]
1		K. Chengalaraya Reddy (1902 – 1976)	N/A	25 October 1947	26 January 1950	2 years, 93 days	Not established yet	Indian National Congress

Chief ministers of Mysore State

Following the adoption of the Constitution of India, the executive of the Mysore State was led by a chief minister.

#	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Term[6] (tenure length)			Assembly[7] (election)	Party[a]
1		K. Chengalaraya Reddy (1902 – 1976)	N/A	26 January 1950	30 March 1952	2 years, 64 days	Not established yet	Indian National Congress
2		Kengal Hanumanthaiah (1908 – 1980)	Ramanagara	30 March 1952	19 August 1956	4 years, 142 days	1st (1952 election)
3		Kadidal Manjappa (1908 – 1992)	Tirthahalli	19 August 1956	31 October 1956	73 days

Chief Minister of Coorg State

Further information: Chief Minister of Coorg State

Chief ministers of Karnataka

On 1 November 1956, as per the States Reorganisation Act, which organised states along the linguistic lines, Mysuru State was expanded with the inclusion of the Kannada-speaking districts of Bombay, Hyderabad and Madras States, and the entirety of Coorg.^[8] On 1 November 1973, Mysuru State was renamed as Karnataka via the Mysuru State (Alteration of Name) Act.^[9]

Colour key

  Indian National Congress (INC)

  Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)

  Janata Party (JP)

  Janata Dal (JD)

  Janata Dal (Secular) (JD(S))

  INC(O)

  INC(R)

  INC(I)

  Office vacant / President's rule

#	Portrait	Name	Constituency	Term[6]			Assembly[7] (election)	Party[a]
Chief Minister of Mysore (1956-1973)[b]
1		S. Nijalingappa (1902 – 2000)	Molakalmuru	31 October 1956	16 May 1958	1 year, 197 days	...continued 1st (1952)	Indian National Congress
							2nd (1957)
2		B. D. Jatti (1912 – 2002)	Jamkhandi	16 May 1958	14 March 1962	3 years, 302 days
3		S. R. Kanthi (1908 – 1969)	Hungund	14 March 1962	21 June 1962	99 days	3rd (1962)
(1)		S. Nijalingappa (1902 – 2000)	Shiggaon	21 June 1962	29 May 1968	5 years, 343 days
			Bagalkot				4th (1967)
4		Veerendra Patil (1924 – 1997)	Chincholi	29 May 1968	18 March 1971	2 years, 293 days		Indian National Congress (O)
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	18 March 1971	20 March 1972	1 year, 2 days	Dissolved	N/A
5		D. Devaraj Urs[d] (1915 – 1982)	Hunasuru	20 March 1972	31 October 1973	1 year, 225 days	5th (1972)	Indian National Congress (R)
Chief Minister of Karnataka (1973-present)[d]
1		D. Devaraj Urs (1915 – 1982)	Hunasuru	1 November 1973	31 December 1977	4 years, 60 days	...continued 5th (1972)	Indian National Congress (I)
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	31 December 1977	28 February 1978	59 days	Dissolved	N/A
(1)		D. Devaraj Urs (1915 – 1982)	Hunasuru	28 February 1978	12 January 1980	1 year, 318 days	6th (1978)	Indian National Congress (I)
2		R. Gundu Rao (1937 – 1993)	Somwarpet	12 January 1980	10 January 1983	2 years, 363 days
3		Ramakrishna Hegde (1926 – 2004)	Kanakapura	10 January 1983	7 March 1985[e]	5 years, 216 days	7th (1983)	Janata Party
			Basavanagudi	8 March 1985	13 August 1988[f]		8th (1985)
4		S. R. Bommai (1924 – 2007)	Hubli Rural	13 August 1988	21 April 1989	251 days
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	21 April 1989	30 November 1989	223 days	Dissolved	N/A
5		Veerendra Patil (1924 – 1997)	Chincholi	30 November 1989	10 October 1990	314 days	9th (1989)	Indian National Congress (I)
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	10 October 1990	17 October 1990	7 days		N/A
6		Sarekoppa Bangarappa (1933 – 2011)	Soraba	17 October 1990	19 November 1992	2 years, 33 days		Indian National Congress (I)
7		Veerappa Moily (born 1940)	Karkala	19 November 1992	11 December 1994	2 years, 22 days
8		H. D. Deve Gowda (born 1933)	Ramanagara	11 December 1994	31 May 1996	1 year, 172 days	10th (1994)	Janata Dal
9		J. H. Patel (1930 – 2000)	Channagiri	31 May 1996	11 October 1999	3 years, 133 days
10		S. M. Krishna (1932 – 2024)	Maddur	11 October 1999	28 May 2004	4 years, 230 days	11th (1999)	Indian National Congress
11		Dharam Singh (1936 – 2017)	Jevargi	28 May 2004	3 February 2006	1 year, 251 days	12th (2004)
12		H. D. Kumaraswamy (born 1959)	Ramanagara	3 February 2006	8 October 2007	1 year, 247 days		Janata Dal (Secular)
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	8 October 2007	12 November 2007	35 days		N/A
13		B. S. Yediyurappa[g] (born 1943)	Shikaripura	12 November 2007	19 November 2007	7 days		Bharatiya Janata Party
–		Vacant[c] (President's rule)	N/A	19 November 2007	29 May 2008	193 days	Dissolved	N/A
(13)		B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943)	Shikaripura	30 May 2008	5 August 2011	3 years, 67 days	13th (2008)	Bharatiya Janata Party
14		Sadananda Gowda (born 1953)	MLC	5 August 2011	12 July 2012	342 days
15		Jagadish Shettar (born 1955)	Hubli-Dharwad Central	12 July 2012	13 May 2013	305 days
16		Siddaramaiah[h] (born 1947)	Varuna	13 May 2013	17 May 2018	5 years, 4 days	14th (2013)	Indian National Congress
(13)		B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943)	Shikaripura	17 May 2018	23 May 2018	6 days	15th (2018)	Bharatiya Janata Party
(12)		H. D. Kumaraswamy (born 1959)	Channapatna	23 May 2018	26 July 2019	1 year, 64 days		Janata Dal (Secular)
(13)		B. S. Yediyurappa (born 1943)	Shikaripura	26 July 2019	28 July 2021	2 years, 2 days		Bharatiya Janata Party
17		Basavaraj Bommai (born 1960)	Shiggaon	28 July 2021	20 May 2023	1 year, 296 days
(16)		Siddaramaiah (born 1947)	Varuna	20 May 2023	3 June 2026	3 years, 14 days	16th (2023)	Indian National Congress
18		D. K. Shivakumar (born 1962)	Kanakapura	3 June 2026	Incumbent	110 days

Statistics

Time held in office by party (as of 12 September 2026)

1. Indian National Congress (64.0%)
2. Bharatiya Janata Party (12.6%)
3. Janata Party (8.99%)
4. Janata Dal (6.92%)
5. Janata Dal (Secular) (4.08%)
6. President's Rule (3.47%)

#	Name	Party		Length of term
				Longest tenure	Total tenure
1	Siddaramaiah		INC	5 years, 4 days	8 years, 18 days
2	D. Devaraj Urs		INC / INC(R)	5 years, 286 days	7 years, 239 days
3	S. Nijalingappa		INC	5 years, 343 days	7 years, 175 days
4	Ramakrishna Hegde		JP	5 years, 216 days	5 years, 216 days
5	B. S. Yediyurappa		BJP	3 years, 67 days	5 years, 82 days
6	S. M. Krishna		INC	4 years, 230 days	4 years, 230 days
7	B. D. Jatti		INC	3 years, 302 days	3 years, 302 days
8	Veerendra Patil		INC / INC(O)	2 years, 293 days	3 years, 242 days
9	J. H. Patel		JD	3 years, 133 days	3 years, 133 days
10	R. Gundu Rao		INC	2 years, 363 days	2 years, 363 days
11	H. D. Kumaraswamy		JD(S)	1 year, 247 days	2 years, 311 days
12	Sarekoppa Bangarappa		INC	2 years, 33 days	2 years, 33 days
13	Veerappa Moily		INC	2 years, 22 days	2 years, 22 days
14	Basavaraj Bommai		BJP	1 year, 296 days	1 year, 296 days
15	Dharam Singh		INC	1 year, 251 days	1 year, 251 days
16	H. D. Deve Gowda		JD	1 year, 172 days	1 year, 172 days
17	Sadananda Gowda		BJP	342 days	342 days
18	Jagadish Shettar		BJP	305 days	305 days
19	S. R. Bommai		JP	251 days	251 days
20	D. K. Shivakumar*		INC	110 days	110 days
21	S. R. Kanthi		INC	99 days	99 days
—	President's Rule		—	1 year, 1 day	2 years, 121 days

By political party

Span by political party (as of 12 September 2026)

Political party	Number of chief ministers	Total years of holding CMO
Indian National Congress including INC(I) / INC(O) / INC(R)	12	44 years, 258 days
Bharatiya Janata Party	4	8 years, 296 days
Janata Party	2	6 years, 103 days
Janata Dal	2	4 years, 305 days
Janata Dal (Secular)	1	2 years, 311 days
President's Rule	6	2 years, 155 days

Parties by total duration (in years) of holding Chief Minister's Office

10

20

30

40

50

INC

BJP

JD

JP

JD(S)

•   INC
•   BJP
•   JD
•   JP
•   JD(S)

See also

• Dewan of Mysore
• List of Diwans of Mysore
• List of deputy chief ministers of Karnataka

Notes

1. This column only names the chief minister's party. The state government he headed may have been a complex coalition of several parties and independents; these are not listed here.
2. On 1 November 1956, the Indian states were reorganised along linguistic lines. The Mysore State was expanded with the addition of the Kannada-speaking districts of Bombay, Hyderabad, and Madras states, and the entirety of Coorg.^[9]
3. President's rule may be imposed when the "government in a state is not able to function as per the Constitution", which often happens because no party or coalition has a majority in the assembly. When President's_rule#Karnataka
4. On 1 November 1973, Mysore State was renamed as Karnataka.^[9] Devaraj Urs, who was the chief minister of Mysore state since 20 March 1972, continued as chief minister of Karnataka post the renaming.
5. According to Frontline, following the poor performance of the Janata Party in the 1984 Indian general election (it won only four out of the 28 seats), Hegde resigned because his party had lost its popular mandate. He headed a caretaker government till the next elections. In the 1985 Karnataka assembly election, the Janata Party came to power with a comfortable majority."^[10]
6. According to Frontline, Hegde resigned in February 1986 when the Karnataka High Court censured his government for the way it handled arrack bottling contracts.^[10] He withdrew his resignation after a couple of days, "following pressure from his party legislators".^[11]
7. Yediyurappa is the only person to have served as chief minister on four separate occasions.
8. Siddaramaiah holds the record for the longest combined tenure as chief minister, at eight years and eighteen days across his two terms.

References

1. Basu, Durga Das (1960). Introduction to the Constitution of India (20 ed.). LexisNexis Butterworths Wadhwa. pp. 241–245. ISBN 978-81-8038-559-9. Although the text talks about Indian state governments in general, it applies for the specific case of Karnataka as well.
2. "Leader of the House". Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. Retrieved 1 June 2025.
3. "Vice Presidents of India". Vice President's office. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
4. "Prime Ministers of India". Prime Minister's office. Retrieved 1 April 2026.
5. Sadasivan, S. N. (2005). Political and administrative integration of princely states By S. N. Sadasivan. Mittal Publications. p. 26. ISBN 978-8-17099-968-3.
6. Chief Ministers of Karnataka since 1947. Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Archived on 6 December 2016.
7. Assemblies from 1952. Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Archived on 6 December 2016.
8. Ramaswamy, Harish (1 June 2007). Karnataka Government and Politics. Concept Publishing Company. p. 383. ISBN 978-8-18069-397-7.
9. M. S. Prabhakara (24 July 2007). "New names for old". The Hindu. Retrieved 1 June 2009.
10. Parvathi Menon (31 January 2004). "A politician with elan: Ramakrishna Hegde, 1926–2004". Frontline. Vol. 21, no. 3.
11. A. Jayaram. (13 January 2004). "Pillar of anti-Congress movement". The Hindu.