HD Kumaraswamy

Biography:  H. D. Kumaraswamy born December 16, 1959 is an Indian politician who was the 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka, a state in southern India. His father is the former Prime Minister of India H. D. Deve Gowda. Popularly known as "KumarAnna" (Kumar, the name and "anna" in Kannada means "elder brother") among his friends and followers, was a noted film producer, distributor and exhibitor in the Kannada film industry. He is Karnataka state Janata Dal (Secular) (JD (S)) President. Winning 2013 Assembly election and his party emerging as the second largest in terms of vote share percentage,he was selected as the opposition leader. Kumaraswamy was born in Haradanahalli, Holenarsipura Taluk, Hassan District, Karnataka to H. D. Deve Gowda and Chennamma. He finished his high school studies in Bangalore's MES Educational Institution in Jayanagar. He completed his PUC from Vijaya College and earned his Bsc from National College in Jayanagar, Bangalore. He married Anita on March 13, 1986, at Palace Grounds, Bangalore. He has a son, Nikhil Gowda with Anitha Kumaraswamy . Political career: He entered politics by winning the Kanakapura (Bangalore Rural District) Lok Sabha seat in 1996. He sought re-election from Kanakapura in 1998 and lost. He again contested unsuccessfully for a Sathanur assembly seat in 1999. In 2004, he was elected to represent the Ramanagara assembly segment. Forty-two MLAs of Janata Dal (Secular) under his leadership left to form the government. On January 28, 2006, Karnataka Governor T. N. Chaturvedi invited him to form the government in the state after the resignation of the Congress Government led by Dharam Singh. He was Chief Minister of Karnataka, from February 4, 2006 to October 9, 2007. On September 27, 2007, Kumaraswamy said that he would leave office on October 3 as part of a power-sharing agreement between the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), despite the calls of some legislators in the JD(S) for him to remain in office for the time being, due to complications in arranging the transfer of power. However, on October 4, 2007, he refused to transfer power to BJP. Finally on October 8, 2007, he tendered his resignation to Governor Rameshwar Thakur, and the state was put under President's rule two days later.[8] However, he reconciled later and decided to offer support to the BJP. BJP's B. S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as the Chief Minister of Karnataka on November 12, 2007. After the untimely demise of Karnataka state JD(S) President Merajuddin Patel, he was elected unopposed as President of the state unit. However after the by-election results of Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency and Mandya  in which his party candiadates lost, he resigned from the post of President of the Janata Dal (Secular) State unit and leader of oppositon. However party cadre succeeded in convincing him from his decision to quit as Leader of opposition in the Karnataka assembly. Some days later a new face krishnappa was selected as President of the state unit. Positions held: 1996: Elected to 11th Lok Sabha 2004-08: Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly Feb. 2006-Oct.2007: Chief Minister, Karnataka 2009: Re-elected to 15th Lok Sabha (2nd term) 31 Aug. 2009: Member, Committee on Rural Development 15 Oct. 2009: Member, Committee on Food Management in Parliament House Complex. 31 May. 2013: Leader of Opposition, Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Film career: Though H.D. Kumaraswamy was the son of H. D. Deve Gowda, a versatile politician in Karnataka and the former Prime Minister of India, he was not interested in politics initially. He was very much into film-making and film distribution. He has produced several successful Kannada films. Among which, the film Chandra Chakori was a huge hit, credited with 365 days run in theaters. He is a great fan of Kannada actor thespian Dr Rajkumar, and that attracted him into the film industry. In an interview he has admitted that in his college days, he used to wear clothes which Dr. Rajkumar wore in the movies, especially his pants. References