S M Krishna had eventful 4 years as Maharashtra Governor in Mumbai’s Raj Bhavan

Mumbai: Articulate, polished and always well-dressed, S M Krishna had four eventful years as Maharashtra Governor during which Maharashtra faced several big issues like the July 26, 2004, deluge in the Mumbai metropolitan region, the July 11, 2006, chain bombing in Mumbai, one Vidhan Sabha polls and the dance bar ban.

Krishna was an occupant of the picturesque Raj Bhavan at Malabar Hill in Mumbai from December 6, 2004, to March 8, 2008.

Krishna worked with two Chief Ministers - Sushil Kumar Shinde and Vilasrao Deshmukh, both of whom later became his colleagues in the Congress-led UPA government headed by Dr Manmohan Singh.

One of the big political issues that he handled was the dance bar ban imposed by the erstwhile Congress-NCP Democratic Front government. He promulgated the ordinance and later gave assent to a bill banning dance bars in Maharashtra.

Politically he had admired and/or worked with many Maharashtra politicians like Yashwantrao Chavan, Rajni Patel, Nath Pai, Madhu Limaye, S M Joshi.

Krishna quit the gubernatorial position to be back in Karnataka politics. A connoisseur of arts and culture, he used to meet who’s who and artists often.

A tennis fan, Krishna, during his tenure refurbished the court in Raj Bhavan, used to play often. He used to keenly watch matches being played at The Wimbledon, French Open, US Open and Australian Open championships.

While politically there was no crisis during the tenure of Krishna in Raj Bhavan, one of the biggest challenges was the Mumbai deluge, during which several deaths were reported, and the financial capital of India came to a standstill for three days.