DB Chandre Gowda Biography

D. B. ChandreGowda was born in Daradahalli, Mudigere taluk, Chikkamagalur district, Karnataka.

He was elected as Vice President of Renukacharya College Students Association in Bangalore. Then he moved on to the R.L Law College, and soon became the General Secretary of the R.L. Law College. Key lessons in leadership and values he learnt from these experiences have stayed with him ever since.

In 1973 he was elected to represent Chickmagalur constituency in the Parliament. He made every effort to become the true voice of his constituency in the parliament.

In 1976 he was re-elected to the parliament from Chickmagalur. Between 1978 and 1986 he became involved in state politics.

After being elected to the Karnataka Legislative Council in 1978 he served as a Cabinet minister and subsequently went on to become the Leader of the Opposition. In 1983 he was elected M.L.A from the Thirtathalli Constituency and became the Speaker in the assembly.

In 1986 he became a Member of the Parliament in Rajya Sabha and. In 1989 he was re-elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (M.L.A) and became the Leader of the Opposition. In 1999 he was again elected as M.L.A from Shringeri.  He served as the Minister of Law and Parliamentary Affairs, until 2004. In 1983 he played a key role in organizing a mammoth farmers’ rally that succeeded in obtaining a series of sweeping reform for the families of our farmers and the poor in Karnataka.

He is famous for an incident in which he vacated his MP seat of Chickmagalur and allowed Smt Indira Gandhi to contest and win the election from here.