Ex-Karnataka CM HD Kumaraswamy becomes heavy industries and steel minister

Once called “accidental chief minister” by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Janata Dal (Secular) state president and member of Parliament from Mandya H D Kumaraswamy is heavy industries and steel minister in the third Narendra Modi-led NDA government.
 

Having demonstrated his political leadership stronghold at the state level by holding Karnataka’s top post of chief minister twice, Kumaraswamy will serve as a minister in the central government for the first time.

Son of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda, Kumaraswamy's political journey started in 1996 when he secured victory in the Kanakapura Lok Sabha seat.

Despite facing many defeats throughout his long political career, Kumaraswamy consistently fought back and rose again.

In 1999, he lost to his arch-rival, Congress leader D K Shivakumar, in the Sathnur Assembly seat.

However, in 2004, he won from the Ramanagara Assembly seat, where he remained undefeated until he shifted to the neighbouring Channapatna constituency.

In May last year, when his party was defeated, many political observers saw it as an existential crisis for JD (S) and the 64-year-old Vokkaliga leader.

Once considered kingmakers in Karnataka, the party faced significant setbacks in the 2023 elections, losing 18 seats and 5 percent of its vote share.

The JD(S) won only 19 of the 209 seats it contested.

The kingmaker of Karnataka has now become a kingmaker at the Centre. Kumaraswamy became chief minister in 2006 by making a surprising move as a relatively junior politician.

With no party winning a clear majority in the Karnataka Assembly elections, he led a faction of JD(S) to break an agreement with Congress and ally with the BJP and become CM for the first time.

However, internal strife led to the coalition's collapse in 2007 when Kumaraswamy resigned after the BJP accused him of not honouring the power-sharing agreement and withdrew support.

The 2018 state elections set the stage for another dramatic chapter in Kumaraswamy’s political saga. The elections resulted in a hung assembly.

Seizing the opportunity, Kumaraswamy formed a post-poll alliance with the Congress to keep the BJP out of power.

However, the relationship between Kumaraswamy and senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah was particularly strained leading to defections that eventually caused the government’s collapse in 2019.