H. D. Deve Gowda

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (pronunciation^ⓘ; born 18 May 1933)^[3] is an Indian politician who served as the 11th prime minister of India from 1996 to 1997.^[4][5] He previously served as the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996 and as a Member of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. A member of the Janata Dal (Secular), he currently serves as the party's president since 1999 and as the Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka since 2020.^[6]

H. D. Deve Gowda
Official portrait, 1996
Prime Minister of India[1]
In office 1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997
President	Shankar Dayal Sharma
Vice President	Kocheril Raman Narayanan
Preceded by	Atal Bihari Vajpayee
Succeeded by	Inder Kumar Gujral
Union Minister of Home Affairs
In office 1 June 1996 – 28 June 1996
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Murli Manohar Joshi
Succeeded by	Indrajit Gupta
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 June 2020
Preceded by	D. Kupendra Reddy
Constituency	Karnataka
In office 23 September 1996 – 2 March 1998
Preceded by	Leeladevi Renuka Prasad
Succeeded by	A. Lakshmisagar
Constituency	Karnataka
Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha
In office 17 May 2004 – 23 May 2019
Preceded by	G. Puttaswamy Gowda
Succeeded by	Prajwal Revanna
Constituency	Hassan, Karnataka
In office 2 February 2002 – 16 May 2004
Preceded by	M. V. Chandrashekara Murthy
Succeeded by	Tejashwini Sreeramesh
Constituency	Kanakapura, Karnataka
In office 10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999
Preceded by	Rudresh Gowda
Succeeded by	G. Puttaswamy Gowda
Constituency	Hassan, Karnataka
In office 20 June 1991 – 11 December 1994
Preceded by	H. C. Srikantaiah
Succeeded by	Rudresh Gowda
Constituency	Hassan, Karnataka
Chief Minister of Karnataka
In office 11 December 1994 – 31 May 1996
Governor	Khurshed Alam Khan
Preceded by	Veerappa Moily
Succeeded by	Jayadevappa Halappa Patel
Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly
In office 1994 (1994)–1996 (1996)
Preceded by	CM Lingappa
Succeeded by	CM Lingappa
Constituency	Ramanagara
In office 1962 (1962)–1989 (1989)
Preceded by	Y. Veerappa
Succeeded by	G. Puttaswamy Gowda
Constituency	Holenarasipur
President of Janata Dal (Secular)
Incumbent
Assumed office July 1999
Preceded by	Office established
Personal details
Born	(1933-05-18) 18 May 1933 (age 91) Haradanahalli, Kingdom of Mysore, British India (present-day Haradanahalli, Karnataka, India)
Political party	Janata Dal (Secular) (1999–present)
Other political affiliations	National Democratic Alliance (2007-08; 2023-present) Janata Dal (1990–1999) Janata Party (1977–1990) Indian National Congress (Organisation) (1972–1976) UOP (1976–1977)[2] Indian National Congress (1953–1962)
Spouse	Chennamma ​ (m. 1954)​
Children	6 children; including H. D. Revanna and H. D. Kumaraswamy
Education	Diploma in Civil Engineering
Alma mater	L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan
Profession	Politician agriculturist civil engineer
Signature
Website	hddevegowda.in
Nickname(s)	Mannina Maga Dodda Gowdaru

In this Indian name, the name Haradanahalli Doddegowda is a patronymic, and the person should be referred to by the given name, Deve Gowda, Devegowda, or Gowda.

Born in a family of farmers, Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress in 1953 and remained a member until 1962. He became president of the state unit of the Janata Dal in 1994 and was considered to be a driving force in the party's victory in Karnataka. He served as the 8th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996. In the 1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government and Deve Gowda was elected to serve as prime minister as head of the United Front coalition.^[7][8] His premiership lasted for less than a year and he left office in April 1997. After his prime ministerial tenure, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament until his defeat in 2019.^[9] Deve Gowda was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2020.

Early life and career

H. D. Deve Gowda was born on 18 May 1933 in Haradanahalli, a village in Holenarasipura Taluk, of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore (now in Hassan, Karnataka). His father Dodde Gowda was a paddy farmer and mother, Devamma was a home maker.^[10][11]

Gowda earned a diploma in civil engineering from L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan, in the early 1950s.^[12]

Deve Gowda and Manmohan Singh

Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress party in 1953 and remained a member until 1962. During that period, he was President of Anjaneya Cooperative Society of Holenarasipura and later became a member of the Taluk Development Board of Holenarasipura.

State politics (1962–1996)

In 1962, Deve Gowda was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Holenarasipura constituency as an independent candidate. Later, he was elected from the same constituency to the Assembly for six consecutive terms from 1962 to 1989. He joined the Congress (O) during the Congress split. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly from March 1972 to March 1976 and from November 1976 to December 1977.^[13] During the Emergency in the 1970s, he was imprisoned in the Bangalore Central Jail.

Later, Deve Gowda served as the two-time president of the state unit of the Janata Party. He served as a minister in the Janata Party Government in Karnataka headed by Ramakrishna Hegde from 1983 to 1988. When V.P. Singh joined Janata Dal, Subramanian Swamy formed Janata Party (Jaya Prakash) faction, and Deve Gowda joined him to become Janata Party (JP)'s Karnataka President. He was later defeated from Holenarasipur in 1989, and soon later rejoined Janata Dal.^[14] He became president of the state unit of the Janata Dal in 1994 and led the party to victory in the 1994 State Assembly elections. He was elected from the Ramanagara, and sworn in as the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka in December.

As chief minister, Gowda toured Switzerland and attended the Forum of International Economists. His tour to Singapore brought in foreign investment to the State.^[3] He resigned from the position to serve as prime minister following his appointment in 1996.

Prime Minister (1996–1997)

See also: Deve Gowda ministry

Following the 1996 general elections, P. V. Narasimha Rao government was defeated with no other party winning enough seats to form a government.

When the United Front (a conglomeration of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties) decided to form the Government at the Centre with the support of the Congress and CPI(M), Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government after V. P. Singh and Jyoti Basu declined.^[15][16] He was sworn-in as the 11th Prime Minister of India in June 1996 and was elected to the Rajya Sabha in September 1996 during his tenure as prime minister.^[6] During his tenure, he served as the Home Minister and as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the United Front, the policy-making committee consisting of other coalition party leaders.^[6] He is credited for providing financial closure and kickstarting development of the Delhi Metro Project.^[17] He left office on 21 April 1997^[18] after the Congress revoked its support for Gowda amidst discontent over communication between the coalition and the Congress. It compromised to support a new government under I. K. Gujral, who served as the prime minister from 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998.

Post-premiership (1997–present)

Devegowda c. 2015

He was defeated in the 1999 general elections.^[19] He was elected president of the Janata Dal (Secular) the same year.

The 2004 Karnataka state elections witnessed the revival of his party's fortunes under the leadership of Siddaramaiah with the Janata Dal (Secular) winning 58 seats and becoming a part of the ruling coalition in the state. Later, the party joined with the BJP and formed another government in 2006. Deve Gowda's son, H. D. Kumaraswamy, headed the BJP-JD(S) coalition government in the state for 20 months.^[20][21] The alliance was defeated in 2008. B. S. Yediyurappa was elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.^[22] Deve Gowda verbally abused Yediyurappa.^[23][24] This event was termed as a "new low in Indian politics".^[25] Deve Gowda later apologised for hurling abuse at him.^[26]

Deve Gowda expelled Siddaramaiah and CM Ibrahim from the JD(S) in 2005.^{[27][28][29][30]} Later, both Siddaramaiah and CM Ibrahim joined the Indian National Congress,^[31] which won the 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, with Siddaramaiah being elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.^[32]

Deve Gowda contested the 2019 general elections against G. S. Basavaraj in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka. G. S. Basavaraj, BJP candidate of Tumkur Constituency won against Deve Gowda by a margin of 13,339 votes. G. S. Basavaraj polled 596,127 votes while Deve Gowda got 582,788 votes.^[33] He has been elected to Rajya Sabha.^[34]

Personal life

He married Chennamma in 1954. They have six children together: four sons, including politicians H. D. Revanna and H. D. Kumaraswamy, who is the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and two daughters.^[35] He is the father-in-law of politician Anitha Kumaraswamy and grandfather of actor Nikhil Kumaraswamy, politicians Prajwal Revanna and Suraj Revanna.

Electoral history

Legislative Assembly Elections

Year	Constituency	Party	Result	Votes	Opposition Candidate	Opposition Party	Opposition votes	Ref
1962	Holenarasipur	IND	Won	12,622	H. D. Doddegowda	INC	7,338	[36]
1967	Holenarasipur	IND	Won	20,594	H. D. Doddegowda	INC	12,191	[36]
1972	Holenarasipur	INC(O)	Won	26,639	K. Kumaraswamy	INC	20,475	[36]
1978	Holenarasipur	JNP	Won	33,992	K. Kumaraswamy	INC	28,472	[36]
1983	Holenarasipur	JNP	Won	37,239	K. Kumaraswamy	INC	28,158	[36]
1985	Holenarasipur	JNP	Won	41,230	G. Puttaswamy Gowda	IND	38,063	[36]
1985	Sathanur	JNP	Won	45,612	D. K. Shivakumar	INC	29,809	[37]
1989	Holenarasipur	JNP	Lost	45,461	G. Puttaswamy Gowda	INC	53,297	[36]
1994	Ramanagara	JD	Won	47,986	C. M. Lingappa	INC	38,392	[38]

Parliament Elections

Year	Constituency	Party	Result	Votes	Opposition Candidate	Opposition Party	Opposition votes	Ref
1991	Hassan	JNP	Won	2,60,761	H. C. Srikantaiah	INC	2,57,570	[39]
1998	Hassan	JD	Won	3,36,407	H. C. Srikantaiah	INC	3,04,753	[39]
1999	Hassan	JD(S)	Lost	2,56,587	G. Putta Swamy Gowda	INC	3,98,344	[39]
2002 (bypoll)	Kanakapura	JD(S)	Won	5,81,709	D. K. Shivakumar	INC	5,29,133	[40]
2004	Hassan	JD(S)	Won	4,62,625	H. C. Srikantaiah	INC	2,72,320	[39]
2004	Kanakapura	JD(S)	Lost	4,62,320	Tejashwini Sreeramesh	INC	2,72,320	[41]
2009	Hassan	JD(S)	Won	4,96,429	K. H. Hanume Gowda	BJP	2,05,316	[39]
2014	Hassan	JD(S)	Won	5,09,841	A. Manju	INC	4,09,379	[39]
2019	Tumkur	JD(S)	Lost	5,82,788	G. S. Basavaraj	BJP	5,96,127	[42]

Positions held

Positions Held by Shri H.D. Devegowda

Year	Position	Description
1962–1989	Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly	Seven terms
1972–1976	Leader of Opposition, Karnataka Legislative Assembly
1983–1989	Minister, Public Works and Irrigation, Government of Karnataka
1985–1989	Chairman, Public Accounts Committee, Karnataka Legislative Assembly
1991–1994	Member, Tenth Lok Sabha	First term
1991–1994	Member, Committee on Commerce
1991–1994	Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Fertilizers
1991–1994	Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture
1993–1994	Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly
1994–1996	Chief Minister, Government of Karnataka
June 1996–April 1997	Prime Minister of India	In charge of multiple Ministries/Departments including Petroleum and Chemicals, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy, Home Affairs, Agriculture, Food Processing Industries, Urban Affairs, Employment, and Non-Conventional Energy Sources.
Sept. 1996	Elected to Rajya Sabha	First term
Nov. 1996–April 1997	Leader of the House, Rajya Sabha
1998–1999	Member, Twelfth Lok Sabha	Second term
2002–2004	Member, Thirteenth Lok Sabha	Elected in bye-election, third term
2004–2009	Member, Fourteenth Lok Sabha	Fourth term
Aug. 2006–2008	Member, Committee on Railways
2009–2014	Member, Fifteenth Lok Sabha	Fifth term
Aug. 2009	Member, Committee on Defence
May 2014–2019	Member, Sixteenth Lok Sabha	Sixth term
Sept. 2014–May 2019	Member, Committee on Defence
Sept. 2014–May 2019	Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Urban Development, Housing, and Urban Poverty Alleviation
June 2020	Elected to Rajya Sabha	Second term
July 2020–Sept. 2022	Member, Committee on Railways
Sept. 2022–June 2024	Member, Committee on Water Resources
Sept. 2022–Oct. 2024 onwards	Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer's Welfare
Sept. 2024 onwards	Member, Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj

See also

• List of prime ministers of India
• List of chief ministers of Karnataka

References

1. Depar of Justice; Ministry of Law & Justice; Government of India. "H. D. Deve Gowda". doj.gov.in. Retrieved 13 December 2021. [H. D.] Deve Gowda [...] served as the 11th Prime Minister of India from June 1996 to April 1997.
2. "Leaders of the Opposition of Karnataka Legislative Assembly since 1962". kla.kar.nic.in. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
3. "Shri H. D. Deve Gowda". pmindia.gov.in. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
4. Press Trust of India (25 February 2015). "I will not contest any more elections: Deve Gowda". The Hindu. Retrieved 13 December 2021. Gowda became the 12th Prime Minister in June 1996.
5. "Britannica article". Retrieved 16 October 2014.
6. "JDS Leader: H. D. Deve Gowda Profile". janata.in. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
7. Mukerji, Debashish (8 December 2021). "Before Deve Gowda, VP Singh was asked to be PM of United Front. He hid in his flat, car". ThePrint. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
8. Srinivasaraju, Sugata (5 June 2021). "Deve Gowda and the accidental prime ministers". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 29 June 2024.
9. "Hassan Election Result 2019". Times Now. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
10. "Asiaweek article". Retrieved 30 September 2007.
11. "New Indian Express article". Archived from the original on 29 March 2014. Retrieved 28 March 2014.
12. "Deve Gowda goes down memory lane". The Hindu. 2 February 2009. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
13. "Janata Dal (Secular)". Janatadalsecular.org.in. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
14. "Holenarasipur Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency".
15. "Why Jyoti Basu could not be PM". Times of India Blog. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
16. Mukul, Akshaya. "Historic blunder: How hardliners denied Basu the chance to be PM". The Economic Times. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
17. "The derailment of E Sreedharan". TOI. 2 March 2021. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
18. "25 years ago HD Deve Gowda took oath as PM; JDS highlights achievements". www.business-standard.com. Press Trust of India. 1 June 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
19. "1999 India General (13th Lok Sabha) Elections Results".
20. "Janata Dal Secular". Janata.in. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
21. "Janata Dal (Secular)". Janatadalsecular.org.in. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
22. "Yeddyurappa sworn-in as Karnataka Chief Minister". Oneindia News. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
23. "Former PM Deve Gowda abuses Karnataka CM". DNA India. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
24. "Former PM Gowda calls CM Yeddyurappa a bloody bastard". The Times of India. 11 January 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
25. "New low in politics, Gowda abuses Yeddyurappa". NDTV. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
26. "Deve Gowda abuses Yeddyurappa, then says sorry". Rediff.com. 10 January 2010. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
27. "Siddaramaiah under pressure to revive AHINDA". The Hindu. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
28. "AHINDA leaders divided over Siddaramaiah's likely pact with BJP". The Hindu. 7 January 2009. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
29. "Ahinda movement will be strengthened to prevent Dalits from joining Hindutva fold". The Times of India. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 13 October 2017.
30. "JD(S) to expel Siddaramaiah, Ibrahim". The Hindu. 2 October 2005. Archived from the original on 29 May 2006. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
31. "Siddaramaiah joins Congress". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 January 2013. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
32. "Siddaramaiah to be sworn-in as Karnataka Chief Minister on Monday". NDTV.com. Retrieved 12 May 2013.
33. "Lok Sabha election results 2019: Former Prime Minister Deve Gowda loses to BJP's GS Basavaraju in Tumkur". CNBCTV18. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2019.
34. "Hassan Election Result 2019". Times Now. 23 May 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2019.
35. Baweja, Harinder (31 January 1997). "The taste of power". India Today. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
36. "Holenarasipur (Karnataka) Assembly Constituency Elections". elections.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
37. "Sathanur Assembly Constituency Election Result - Legislative Assembly Constituency". resultuniversity.com. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
38. "Ramanagaram (Karnataka) Assembly Constituency Elections". elections.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
39. "Hassan Parliamentary Constituency Election and Results Update". elections.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
40. "PC Bye Election: Kanakapura 2002". indiavotes.com. Retrieved 28 December 2021.
41. 2004 General Election eci.gov.in ^{[dead link‍]}
42. "Tumkur Parliamentary Constituency Election and Results Update". elections.in. Retrieved 28 December 2021.

External links

• Official website
• Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda Prime Ministers Office, Archived

Political offices
Preceded by Atal Bihari Vajpayee	Prime Minister of India 1996–1997	Succeeded by Inder Kumar Gujral
Party political offices
Preceded by	Leader of the Janata Dal (Secular) Party in the 16th Lok Sabha 2014–present	Incumbent