After securing his position in the second innings of the Narendra Modi-led NDA cabinet, former Karnataka chief minister DV Sadananda Gowda has been allocated the Ministry of Chemical and Fertilisers.
He won the Lok Sabha elections from the high-profile Bangalore-North seat and has been sworn-in at the star-studded ceremony being hosted at the Rashtrapati Bhawan.
2019 Performance
Sadananda Gowda retained his seat from 2014, beating Congress’s Krishna Byre Gowda with a comfortable margin of over 1,46,100 votes. Krishna Gowda, who is a sitting state minister in Karnataka, was propped as a trump card by the Cong-JD(S) combine to destabilise the BJP in its stronghold. By pitting a popular face and a Vokkaliga leader, the ruling dispensation hoped to use these factors to steam-roll the BJP. However, on April 23, Sadananda emerged as the clear leader, with 52 percent vote share.
Initially, poll pundits thought JD(S)’s HD Deve Gowda would be pitted against the BJP candidate. Responding to the speculation, Sadananda Gowda had said, “I respect Deve Gowda but I am not afraid of him. It will be good if I contest against an elder in politics and if I win, that will be even better."
Political Journey
Gowda has held three portfolios in the previous Modi cabinet -- Minister of Railways, Minister of Law, and eventually Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation. An LLB graduate, Gowda initially started his career in politics in the 80s with Jan Sangh.
He won the state assembly elections from Puttur in 1994 and 1999, and continued as the deputy leader of opposition in the Assembly from 2004 to 2009. After winning Dakshina Kannada and Chikkamagaluru seats in 2004 and 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he assumed the role of Karnataka chief minister.
Gowda has no criminal charges against him. Given his experience in the Modi cabinet and popularity, he may be useful to the NDA government, especially in Karnataka where ‘Gowda’ surname is an intrinsic key to woo the Vokkaliga community.
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