The state budget, scheduled to be presented by Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on March 5, will be the 32nd by a finance minister hailing from the Old Mysuru region.
Out of around 65 state budgets (including full-fledged budgets, ‘vote-on-account’ by governments at the fag end of their term, and budgets presented by new governments), presented so far, since 1956, 31 have been presented by Finance Ministers who trace their origin to the old Mysuru region.
Siddaramaiah’s record
For Yediyurappa himself, it will be the seventh budget. So far, he has presented six budgets. Among old Mysureans, ex-chief minister Siddaramaiah equalled the record of the late chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde from Uttara Kannada district, by presenting his 13th state budget in 2018.
However, both Hegde and Siddaramaiah are far behind Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala, who has presented 18 budgets in his native state of Gujarat.
A native of Bukanakere, KR Pet taluk in Mandya district, Yediyurappa presented six budgets as deputy chief minister and finance minister under chief minister H D Kumaraswamy and as the chief minister himself.
The old Mysuru region comprises undivided Mysuru district — Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar districts — and Hassan district. The undivided Mysuru district alone has so far given four finance ministers to the state, who have presented a total of 29 budgets.
Siddaramaiah, who held the Finance portfolio as chief minister from 2014 to 2018, presented six budgets in a row. However, his 2018-19 budget was a vote-on-account budget, in view of the imminent Assembly election.
Earlier, he presented seven budgets as deputy chief minister — in the Congress-JD(S) coalition government from 2005-07 and in the then JD government from 1995-2000. He has presented the budget under three chief ministers — twice under H D Deve Gowda in 1995 and 1996, three times under J H Patel in 1997, 1998 and 1999 and under N Dharam Singh in 2005 and 2006.
The others from the region, undivided Mysuru district, who presented a considerable number of budgets are S M Krishna and T Mariyappa. Krishna, a native of Somanahalli in Maddur taluk of Mandya district, presented five budgets as chief minister and finance minister. Though he served as state minister for finance in the Union government, he did not serve as finance minister under any other CM.
First FM
Incidentally, the first finance minister of Karnataka, erstwhile Mysore State, was also from the Mysuru region. Mariyappa, a native of Beereswarapura in Nagamangala taluk of Mandya district presented five budgets under chief minister S Nijalingappa and B D Jatti, from 1956 to 62. Though ‘T’ in his name stands for Tigali, a village near Ooty and Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu, his grandfather Marigowda migrated to Beereswarapura, then known as Kallanakere in Nagamangala taluk. Thus, natives of Mandya district, all put together, have presented a total of 17 budgets, so far.
Kumaraswamy, who served as chief minister and finance minister from May 2018 to August 2019 presented the 2018 and 2019 budgets. Even though he represents Channapatna Assembly segment from Ramnagar district, also part of the erstwhile Mysore State, he is a native of Holenarsipur in Hassan district.