BENGALURU: With the LDF losing the Kerala Assembly elections and 80-year-old Pinarayi Vijayan resigning as the state’s chief minister, his Karnataka counterpart, 78-year-old Siddaramaiah, has now become the oldest chief minister in the country.
Others in the list are Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu (75), and Mizoram CM Lalduhoma and Nagaland CM Neiphiu Rio, who are 74. Arunachal Pradesh CM Pema Khandu is the country’s youngest CM, aged 46.
Siddaramaiah first became an MLA in 1983, aged 36. Since then, he has held many posts, including minister, LoP, and now a two-time CM. He also has a record of presenting 17 state budgets.
Siddaramaiah has now become Karnataka’s longest serving CM, surpassing the record of D Devaraj Urs. Urs held the post for two terms and was in office for 7 years and 239 days. Siddaramaiah has been holding the post since May 2023, after serving a full term between 2013 and 2018.
Siddaramaiah is now 78 years and nine months old. No other person has held the top post in Karnataka at this age. When BJP strongman BS Yediyurappa resigned as CM in July 2021, he was 78 years and five months old. While SM Krishna was 72 when he quit in 2004, JH Patel and Dharam Singh were 69. R Gundu Rao was the state’s youngest CM at 43 when he took oath in 1980.
