After massive assist to BJP in Karnataka, H D Kumaraswamy set for Central govt debut with post in new Modi govt

Once dubbed the “accidental Chief Minister” by Karnataka BJP, Mandya MP and JD(S) state president H D Kumaraswamy will now be among the ministers in the third Narendra Modi-led NDA government. This is the first time Kumaraswamy will be a Central government minister.

Known for his pro-farmer stance and often criticised for his lack of ideological commitment, Kumaraswamy’s rise in politics is largely attributed to his father and former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda. A film producer and distributor under the Channambika Films banner, the two-time Karnataka CM played a prominent role in the impressive performance of the BJP-JD(S) coalition in south Karnataka, where it won 12 of the 14 seats. The strong showing by the JD(S) helped the BJP hold ground in a lot of areas and it ended up winning 17 seats while the Congress bagged 9, much lower than what it had expected. He won the Lok Sabha polls from Mandya, defeating his nearest rival Venkatramane Gowda of the Congress by 2.84 lakh votes.

The youngest son of Gowda and viewed as his political heir, Kumaraswamy is the only leader in Karnataka to have allied with both the BJP and the Congress to become the CM. He is the eighth member of the Deve Gowda family in active politics. Both his wife Anita Kumaraswamy and actor-turned-politician son Nikhil Kumaraswamy have contested multiple elections in recent years.

His first tenure as CM was in 2006, after he along with 42 JD(S) legislators withdrew support from the N Dharam Singh-led Congress-JD(S) coalition government. Kumaraswamy then allied with the BJP to form the “20-20” government, where the two parties entered a power-sharing agreement of 20 months each – an agreement the JD(S) leader later reneged on.

The first time Kumaraswamy