H. D. Deve Gowda

H. D. Deve Gowda

H. D. Deve Gowda
Date of Birth:	18 May 1933
Place of Birth:	Haradanahalli, KA
Prime Minister of India
Tenure Order:	10th Prime Minister
Political party:	United Front
Took Office:	1 June 1996
Left Office:	21 April 1997
Predecessor:	Atal Behari Vajpayee
Successor:	I. K. Gujral

Haradanahalli Dodde Deve Gowda (Kannada: ಎಚ್ ಡಿ ದೇವೇಗೌಡ) (born 18 May 1933 in Haradanahalli to Kuruba mother and Vokkaliga father) was the eleventh Prime Minister of the Republic of India (1996–1997) and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka (1994–1996). A member of a farming family, he was trained as a farmer and won his first seat in the Karnataka state assembly in 1962, rising to become Karnataka's chief minister. In the late 1970s Deve Gowda rose in the Janata party and was an important figure in reuniting its successor, the Janata Dal party, after the original group splintered in 1980. Deve Gowda was instrumental in attracting to the party, divergent castes. When the Congress party was defeated in the 1996 general elections and Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao resigned, Deve Gowda became prime minister of a United Front coalition government after Indian nationalists failed to form a government.

Career

H D Deve Gowda is from the Hassan district in the state of Karnataka. He joined the Congress Party in 1953 and remained in this party until 1962. He then contested elections as an independent candidate and was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (Vidhana Sabha) in 1962. He was elected for the next three terms from the Holenarsipur constituency. From 1972 to 1976 and again from November 1976 to 1977, he was the leader of the opposition party in the legislative assembly.

At first an independent, then a member of the Congress party (see Indian National Congress ), he joined the wing that was opposed to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's faction when the group split (1969). In 1975 he was jailed for 18 months when he opposed Gandhi's state of emergency.

In his next two terms in the legislative assembly, he was in charge of the Public Works and Irrigation portfolios respectively. He resigned from the cabinet in 1982.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hassan constituency in 1991. He became the president of the Janata Dal at the state level in 1994, and became the 14th chief minister of Karnataka in the same year.

In 1996, the Indian parliament did not see any single party achieve a clear majority. A coalition of political parties, the United Front, elected Deve Gowda as the leader; in a surprise development, Deve Gowda became the 11th Prime Minister of the Republic of India (June 1, 1996). He held the post until April 21, 1997. He was noted as being the only Prime Minister who could not speak Hindi which is one of the national languages of India. But he is fluent in English, the second national language. Currently (2006), Deve Gowda plays an important role in the regional politics of Karnataka state.

JD(S)

He is the president of the Janata Dal (S) (JD-S) political party in India and currently a member of Parliament (MP) representing his home town Hassan district in Karnataka. His party mainly runs on a plank of social justice and has substantial support in South-central Karnataka. The JD-S had formed a coalition with the Congress party government lead by Dharam Singh. There are allegations of nepotism owing to his two children H.D. Revanna and H.D. Kumaraswamy being powerful in this government. Revanna had served as a minister in that government. Recently there have been acrimonious arguments between Devegowda and Karnataka's IT industry over charges that not enough has been done by this government to improve the infrastructure in Bangalore.

In January 2006, H.D. Kumaraswamy, son of Devegowda took support of around 40 JD(S) MLAs and the BJP to bring down the Dharam Singh led coalition government. This prompted Devegowda to resign from his post as party president owing moral responsibilities for failing to save the Dharam Singh government. However in February 2006, he withdrew his resignation and suspended 40 JD(S) MLAs of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, including his son and Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, from the primary membership of the party. There are allegations of Devegowda orchestrating the entire political fiasco to elevate his son to the political summit.

Preceded by Atal Behari Vajpayee

Prime Minister of India 1996—1997

Succeeded by Inder Kumar Gujral