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Former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah quits politics citing corruption, old age
The nine-time legislator and the longest-serving chief minister of the state lashed out at corruption in Indian politics
- PUBLISHED: Mon 27 Jul 2026, 5:03 PM
Former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has said that he will no longer contest elections, citing corruption in politics as well as old age.
"I have decided that I should not contest any more elections,” he said. “Earlier, when I contested elections, it was the people of the constituency who supported us financially and ensured our victory. Today, that situation no longer exists."
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The nine-time legislator and the longest-serving chief minister of the state lashed out at the ‘vitiated’ political atmosphere in India, saying, “A time has come now where we have to pay people if we contest in elections.”
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“Politics has become highly corrupted. Honest politics cannot survive,” he added.
The former Congress chief minister was replaced in May by the party high command midway, D.K. Shivakumar, through his second term.
Pointing out that he was now 79, Siddaramaiah ruled out coming back to power in the next elections. "Our government's term has another year and a half remaining," he said. "By then, I will be 81 or 82 years old. My health may not remain as strong as it is now, and I may not be able to work with the same energy and enthusiasm as before," he added.
Oldest chief ministers in India
When Shivakumar replaced him in May, Siddaramaiah was the oldest serving chief minister of a state. Two other chief ministers in the country who are above 75 include Chandrababu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh, 76, and Neiphiu Rio of Nagaland, 75.
V.S. Achuthanandan, a communist leader of Kerala, took over the helm at 82 and was the oldest person to have assumed the chief ministerial post in any Indian state in 2006. He stepped down five years later when he was 87, but continued as a member of the state’s legislature till he was 97. He passed away in July 2025 when he was 101.
Another elder chief minister in India was also from the southern part of the country; M. Karunanidhi first became chief minister of Tamil Nadu when he was just 45 in 1969. He served as chief minister of the state five times. Karunanidhi was 87 when he finished his last term as CM in 2011. He was 94 when he died in 2018.
Kerala also had another aged chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, who served two terms (from May 2016 to May 2026) and is now the leader of the opposition at 81.
