Siddarmaiah set to break Devaraj Urs’ record as longest serving CM

Set to surpass D Devaraj Urs as the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka on January 7, Siddaramaiah on Monday credited the historic milestone to the blessings of people. Urs had served as Chief Minister of the state for 7 years and 239 days. Siddaramaiah would complete seven years and 240 days on Wednesday, surpassing Urs. Highlighting a key difference between himself and Urs, he said while Urs belonged to the ruling class, he hailed from the socially backward community (Kuruba or shepherd). Addressing reporters in Mysuru, he said, “With the blessings of the people, late D Devaraj Urs' record of being the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka will be broken. The matter of pride is that I and Urs belong to Mysuru.” Asked whether he had ever imagined that he would ever break the record, he admitted that he had never imagined even becoming a Minister, let alone the CM. “I had only thought that I will be an MLA after becoming the Taluk Board member. I have so far won eight elections. I lost two Parliament elections and two assembly elections. In my life, I have contested in 13 elections, including Taluk elections,” Siddaramaiah said.

ಮಾಜಿ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿ ದಿವಂಗತ ದೇವರಾಜ್ ಅರಸು ಅವರು ಸುದೀರ್ಘ ಅವಧಿಗೆ ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಾಗಿ ಆಡಳಿತ ನಡೆಸಿದ ದಾಖಲೆ ಸರಿಗಟ್ಟಲು ಜನರ ಆಶೀರ್ವಾದವೇ ಕಾರಣ.

ತಾಲ್ಲೂಕು ಬೋರ್ಡ್ ಸದಸ್ಯನಾದ ನಂತರದ ನನ್ನ ರಾಜಕೀಯ ಜೀವನದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಚಿವನಾಗುವ ಮತ್ತು ಮುಖ್ಯಮಂತ್ರಿಯಾಗುವ ನಿರೀಕ್ಷೆಯಿರಲಿಲ್ಲ. 13 ಚುನಾವಣೆಗಳನ್ನೂ ಎದುರಿಸಿ 9 ಬಾರಿ ಗೆಲುವು… pic.twitter.com/goutsnUIV5

— Siddaramaiah (@siddaramaiah) January 5, 2026

On his comparison with Urs, he said, “Devaraj Urs was not socially backward. In fact, he was from a forward class, the ruling class. He was from a community which is less in population, but he was a popular leader.” The Chief Minister said there is no comparison between him and Urs. Noting that the era of Urs was different from the present, Siddaramaiah said Devaraj Urs contested elections by collecting money directly from the people. “People gave him money and votes in 1962. Time has now changed,” he said.

To a query if there is any chance of breaking his record, Siddaramaiah said records are meant for breaking. “I never said that no one will break my record. Someone may emerge to break my record of the longest serving Chief Minister or the one who presented the maximum budgets." Siddaramaiah has so far presented 16 budgets.

(State Correspondent)