HD Kumaraswamy’s political trajectory has been one of swimming against the tide to achieve his targets, whether it was the first time he won as an MP from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha seat in 1996 or the Mandya Lok Sabha seat he won this time. His critics and supporters have one common thing to say about him — he rises like a phoenix each time he loses a battle, just like his father Deve Gowda.
The analogy is one close to Kumaraswamy’s heart. When Deve Gowda demitted the Prime Minister’s post in 1997, he had vowed he will “rise like a phoenix from the ashes”. Kumaraswamy, while kickstarting his Assembly election campaign in 2023, had claimed to be the phoenix his father had referred to more than two decades ago.
Joining the Narendra Modi 3.0 Cabinet, HDK, as he is often referred to, has finally secured a central ministerial berth, one that the JDS could not achieve since 1996 when Deve Gowda became Prime Minister. Kumaraswamy is Gowda’s younger son.
Standing tall among the other NDA partners, Kumaraswamy, in a traditional panche (dhoti), has had a phenomenal journey from Bengaluru to Delhi. What started as a political move to save the JDS from splitting in the early 2000s has now cemented the JDS’s future with the backing of the BJP.
“I first thank Modi ji and the people of Karnataka. The people of Karnataka blessed the BJP and JD(S) alliance. I got an opportunity to serve the country. For me, working for the welfare of Karnataka and the whole country is important. Which portfolio I am getting is not important… (what is important is) if I am able to meet the expectations of the people of Karnataka through my work as a Union Minister,” said HDK on the day of his swearing-in ceremony.
A former minister in the Kumaraswamy-led JDS government and now Chairman of the Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti recalls a trip with then chief minister Kumaraswamy. He was travelling between Mysore and Bangalore when a police constable saw him and wished him saying “Namaste Kumaranna”.
Shocked by how a constable could call a CM by name, the vexed minister asked Kumaraswamy how he felt about it.
“Kumaraswamy calmed me down and said ‘he is calling out to me from his heart. It is his love for me that he for that minute forgot he is a police officer. This is what I live for’. He is a man with a wonderful heart, one who understands the pulse of the people,” said Horatti.
“Many decisions were taken against the wishes of his father, but his sharp strategy, commitment towards the political growth of the regional party, and sincerity have brought him to this position today,” said the leader who until 2022 was with the JD-S and is now with the BJP.
The two-time Chief Minister of Karnataka has often been referred to as the ‘kingmaker’ in the southern state, as the JD(S), the party run by his father and patriarch Deve Gowda, has on more than one occasion been responsible for forming alliances with the Congress and BJP to be in power. Both times, the JD-S formed an alliance, Kumaraswamy was made the Chief Minister.
A senior government officer who had worked closely with Kumaraswamy said that though he has been in power due to political circumstances many times, “this time, he has made it to the Centre on his own terms”.
NOT ALWAYS ‘LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON’
Born to HD Deve Gowda and Chennamma at Haradanahalli in Holenarsipura taluka of Hassan district on December 16, 1959, Kumaraswamy is one of six children siblings. Having completed his initial education in Hassan, he continued higher education in Bengaluru, completing his BSc from National College, Jayanagar, Bengaluru. Soon, he developed an interest in films and became a movie producer. He handled the production and distribution of several successful Kannada films under the banner Channambika Films until the political bug bit him. He married Anitha Kumaraswamy in 1986.
Kumaraswamy’s first taste of electoral politics, much against his father Deve Gowda’s wishes, was when he contested from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha constituency, which he won in 1996. Despite a fractured alliance, HD Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy’s father, was made the Prime Minister. But Deve Gowda was not a happy man; he felt that Kumaraswamy should return to Karnataka and work with the people in the state rather than be in Delhi. After Gowda’s short-lived government was dissolved within 11 months, Kumaraswamy not only lost the seat, but faced one of his worst electoral losses wherein he lost his deposit as well.
Not one to take defeat easily, he once again contested the 1999 Karnataka Assembly elections from Sathanur, but was defeated by Congress’s DK Shivakumar. It was in 2004 when he stood from the Ramanagara constituency that he was elected MLA for the first time.
“When I met him in the early 2000s, he was yet to get into politics but would keenly be part of discussions with his father Deve Gowda,” said Horatti.
In the 2004 Assembly polls, though the BJP had emerged as the single largest party with 79 out of 224 seats, the Congress (65 seats) and JD-S (58 seats) joined hands to form the government with Dharam Singh of the Congress being the unanimous choice for CM. Cracks began to develop in the alliance soon, and the coalition collapsed after Kumaraswamy withdrew support. Much to Gowda’s chagrin, Kumaraswamy signed a pact with the BJP and formed the government. The pact was that he would lead the government for 20 months, followed by BS Yediyurappa of the BJP for the rest of the 20 months.
“There were attempts being made to split the JD-S, and some of them were to go and join the Congress. It was at this time that the JD-S leader asked ‘Kumaranna’ (as he is called affectionately) to join hands with the BJP and become the CM. He did it to save the JD-S,” said party MLC and spokesperson TA Saravana.
A JD-S insider said that when Kumaraswamy’s term was over and it was the turn for the BJP to take over, Deve Gowda was of the opinion that Kumaraswamy should not hand over power and try to keep himself in the CM seat.
Kumaraswamy tried to convince his father that one should keep his word, explained the leader. But things did not go down well, and after 13 days of handing over the CM position to BS Yediyurappa in 2007, the coalition collapsed, and Karnataka went to polls again after a brief period of being under President’s Rule.
“People were angry with him for “backstabbing Yediyurappa”. But he had no choice. It was a difficult and painful decision for him,” said the JD-S leader who did not wish to be named.
Horatti, who has been a minister in both Kumaraswamy cabinets, calls him “a man with a golden heart”. “I recall the time when as a CM, he visited Mudhol, which is my hometown, along with BJP leader R Ashok. He stayed at the house of an HIV-positive patient. He ate at his house and spent the night there as well. Media from across the country had come to cover this event. He has a soft heart for those who are in need of support, and that is what makes him stand apart,” Horatti said.
Recalling the time when Horatti broke the news of joining the BJP in 2022 to Kumaraswamy, the JD-S leader told him to take the decision he felt was right.
“He told me that I should take the decision, and he would back me. You go join the BJP. It won’t be long when the JD-S will also be with the BJP. Now, in hindsight, it seems he had it all planned out well for the future of the party,” said Horatti.
Kumaraswamy has also had his share of controversies. He faced heat in the Janathakal mining scam and was charged with misuse of office, corruption, and granting undue favours to the Mumbai-based Janathakal Mining company in 2006-2007. It is alleged that he pressured an IAS officer to renew the lease of the Janathakal Mining Company. Mining baron and former BJP minister Gali Janardhan Reddy had also accused Kumaraswamy of receiving kickbacks worth Rs 150 crore from various mining companies.
NEW AVATAR
Several JD-S leaders that News18 spoke to were of the opinion that Kumaraswamy has emerged in a new avatar this time. He is a self-made politician today, one who has had several trials by fire and has been molded into an able administrator and politician, said one of the leaders.
Saravana calls him a splitting image of Deve Gowda when it comes to people connect, humility, understanding of farmer issues, and administration.
“His Gramavastavya programme (living in village homes) during his district visits, farmer loan waiver programme, and Janata Darshan, which he has even conducted for a record 22 hours at a stretch, are all pathbreaking. He is a man who is the real leader of the masses, and today when he stands in Delhi, he represents not just Karnataka, he represents humanity,” said Saravana.
HB Dinesh, who had served as media secretary for Kumaraswamy in both terms, remembers how the leader has often taken decisions swimming against the tide. He observes that Kumaraswamy has the highest respect for his father. However, many of his political decisions have been taken despite severe opposition from Deve Gowda.
“This time, Kumaraswamy has become a minister on his own terms and by fighting the electoral battle with his own hard work and popularity,” said Dinesh.
“Deve Gowda was not happy at all when Kumaraswamy joined hands with the BJP in 2004 to come to power after bringing down the Dharam Singh government… again, when he took the decision of joining with the Congress in 2018 along with Siddaramaiah. The most recent alliance with the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections was a decision by Kumaraswamy, but this time he had his father’s approval,” Dinesh added.
When the Congress formed the government in Karnataka with absolute majority in 2013, Kumaraswamy quit as Karnataka JD(S) president, saying he wanted to build the party that was losing ground. A year later, he returned as state president with the aim of re-establishing JDS’s control over the Vokkaliga-dominated Old Mysore region.
In the 2018 Assembly elections, Kumaraswamy comfortably won from both the seats he contested – Ramanagara and Channapatna – and won from Channapatna in the 2023 Assembly polls.
The Deve Gowda family belongs to the Vokkaliga community, which is the second largest in the state after the Lingayats. The JD-S enjoys the backing of the community, though the Congress has tried to breach the JD-S stronghold in the past few elections. It is the consolidation of the Vokkaliga votes in the Old Mysore region that favoured the BJP-JDS alliance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and gave both parties a handsome victory. The BJP won 17 Lok Sabha seats while the JDS won two seats, taking the NDA total to 19 out of 28 Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka. Kumaraswamy won the Mandya seat he contested from by a huge margin of 2,84,620 votes, sending him to Delhi to become part of the Modi Cabinet.
WHAT NEXT?
Asked whether the JD-S alliance with the BJP at the Center would help the revival of the regional party, political analyst Sandeep Shastri said if that were the plan, Kumaraswamy should have allowed JD-S leaders to take the ministership at the Centre and concentrated on reviving the JD-S in Karnataka.
“With him taking the ministership, I don’t know if he would be able to work for the party and its revival at the state level. I think it is more a reward for being part of the alliance and little to do with rebuilding the JD-S in the state,” Shastri said.
Shastri added that Kumaraswamy has been a beneficiary of political circumstances, observing that he has been in the limelight because of situational factors.
“Both times, he became CM. And now as Union minister… it was because of the advantageous situation he found himself in the wider political developments. With the JD-S being lucky to be part of an alliance where the BJP does not have a majority. Therefore, the alliance partners like the JD-S need to be kept happy. It will be interesting to see what portfolio he gets,” said the analyst.
The Deve Gowda family has a trait of being able to rise again like a phoenix each time they are down, said analyst Prof. Chambi Puranik.
“The Gowda family has the resilience to bounce back, and that has been proved even by Kumaraswamy. Though maintaining a low profile, he has the spark and the experience now. Unlike DK Shivakumar, another Vokkaliga leader, Kumaraswamy is not aggressive; he is a street performer and connects well with people. He is a cool operator who has over the years built himself as the worthy and true successor to Deve Gowda in the Vokkaliga community as well as in the JD-S,” observed Puranik.
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