A suave and articulate leader and an astute politician, S M Krishna brings with him vast experience in the state and at the Centre and is credited with efforts to transform Bangalore as the Information Technology capital of India.

77-year-old Somananhalli Mallaiah Krishna, a Fulbright Scholar educated in George Washington and Southern Methodist Universities in the US, has had a roller coaster ride in in politics that has seen him occupy positions of power as Union Minister, Speaker, Chief Minister and Governor and out of it.

Handpicked by late P V Narasimha Rao as the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka in the 1994 assembly elections, he lost to H D Deve Gowda in the race for power and had to overcome the image of "elitist" politician he had come to acquire.

But he worked assiduously in the next five years to defeat Janata Dal and to become the Chief Minister during which he took steps to transform Bangalore, which had the reputation of 'pensioners paradise' into the Silicon Valley of India. 

He was largely associated with bringing about dynamic changes in Bangalore's infrastructure, which was busting at the seams, and took on his detractors who ridiculed his vision of changing the state capital into a Singapore-like city.  But it is another story that Bangalore's needs have far outpaced its development.

An astute politician who displayed his leadership qualities early in his political career, Krishna has served multiple terms as an MP from Mandya district in Karnatka, the heartland of the Cauvery.

But during his tenure as Chief Minister in 199-2004 he came close earning severe rap from the Supreme Court when he undertook a padayatra challenging Tamil Nadu's share of the Cauvery river water.

He was a member of the third Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962-67 and in 1989-1992 and 2004 a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1972-77.

Krishna has held the portfolio of minister for Commerce and Industries and Parliamentary Affairs, Karnataka in 1972-77 and occupied the prestigious post of the Speaker of the Assembly in 1989-92.

He was an MP in 1971-76 and 1980-84 and he held the post as Union Minister of State for Industry during 1983-84 and Minister of State for Finance in 1984-85. He was elected into the Rajya Sabha in 1996.

Krishna's influence had made many of his colleagues wary of his plans when he failed to repeat the success story in 2004, he was shifted from the state politics by being posted as the Maharashtra governor, a post he reluctantly accepted and palpably uncomfortable in.

However his interest in Karnataka politics made news in between short interludes with the savvy leader sending signals that he always wanted to stage a comeback. The news of his impeding re-entry kept making headlines, till he finally quit the governor's post and plunged back into state politics in 2008.

Krishna, who was rumoured to lead the Congress in the recent Lok Sabha elections in the state, not even fielded by the party, a fact he kept ruing. His induction in the cabinet is being perceived by many as way of lifting the sagging fortunes of the Congress in Karnataka and placating one of the dominant communities Vokkaligas, to which he belongs.