BENGALURU: An integral part of BJP’s strategy sessions, political manoeuvres and back channel interactions to serve the party’s interests, Ananth Kumar’s name came as no surprise when Prime Minister Narendra Modi assigned the crucial Parliamentary Affairs portfolio to him after Venkaiah Naidu had to relinquish the ministry to become the Vice President.
Taking up the immediate challenge of defeating the ‘No Confidence Motion’ against the Modi government moved by the opposition, Ananth proved his mettle in turning the table against the opponents just five months ago.
The six-time MP from Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency, who has been part of the Vajpayee government, party patriarch L K Advani’s confidante and Modi’s trusted man over the last 22 years since his debut in Parliament in 1996, had emerged as the face of Karnataka in national politics.
Ananth has had the distinction of holding the highest number of portfolios from Karnataka at the centre which ranged from Civil Aviation, Tourism to Poverty Alleviation in the NDA government headed by Vajpayee between 1998 and 2004.
He was inducted into the Modi government in May 2014 as minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers. He was rewarded with additional portfolio of Parliamentary Affairs just five months ago.Born in a middle class family in 1959, Ananth rose in ranks with his dedication. He was imprisoned when he was protesting against Emergency in 1975. This is when he was a teenage activist of ABVP.
Ananth joined BJP in 1987. The agitation to hoist the national flag at Idgah Maidan in Hubballi in mid 1990s was a turning point in Ananth’s political career. His dedication to the cause of the party, political astuteness and shrewdness to draw strategies endeared him to party strongman B S Yeddyurappa and the two emerged as the twin-engines of BJP to propel it to greater heights in the later years.
The big moment came in 1996 when the party was on the lookout to replace Prof Venkatagiri Gowda, who had earned the party’s wrath for his outbursts against Atal Bihari Vajpayee, as BJP candidate for Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency. Ananth emerged victorious and was re-elected five times after that.
In 1998 he became the youngest minister in the Vajpayee cabinet. When the party lost power, he was elevated as BJP national general secretary in 2004.
His brief stint as BJP Karnataka state president in 2003-04 was a historic phase as he played a big role in expanding the social base of the party as he took the lead in bringing strong backward community leaders like S Bangarappa, dalit leaders like Govind Karjol, Ramesh Jigajinagi and retired IPS officer from Christian community H T Sangliana into the BJP, party spokesman Prakash said.
Lack of a strong community base proved a handicap for Ananth Kumar to realise his ambition to be the Chief Minister and it also led to frictions between him and Yeddyurappa, though the duo denied it.
WANTED TO BE IAS OFFICER
According to his mentor Prof P V Krishna Bhat, Ananth Kumar wanted to pursue civil services and applied for the exams after his graduation when he was a full-time ABVP worker. But recognising his leadership qualities, he advised him to become a public leader and even tore up his application form.
A POET TOO
Ananth Kumar was famous for his sense of humour, and his associates in ABVP still remember the couplets which he wrote and recited during meetings. “Sometimes we used to feel jealous of his juicy narration of incidents,” said GR Jagdeesh, who worked with him during the ABVP days. He used to write the couplets under the name, “Hothananda”.
NAUGHTY KID
Ananth Kumar was a naughty child and his mother often complained to Prof PV Krishna Bhat. “Whenever I visited Hubballi, his mother used to complain about his hyperactive nature,” said Bhat.
