# H. D. Deve Gowda

Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (pronunciation; born 18 May 1933) is an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of India from 1996 to 1997. He previously served as the chief minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996 and as a Member of Parliament (MP) in the Lok Sabha. A member of the Janata Dal (Secular), he has been serving as the party's president since 1999 and has been an MP in the Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka since 2020.
Born in a family of farmers, Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress (INC) 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 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. 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. 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.
Gowda earned a diploma in civil engineering from L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan, in the early 1950s.
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. 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. 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. He resigned from the position to serve as prime minister following his appointment in 1996.

## Prime Minister (1996–1997)

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. 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. 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. He is credited for providing financial closure and kickstarting development of the Delhi Metro Project. He left office on 21 April 1997 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)

He was defeated in the 1999 general elections. 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. The alliance was defeated in 2008. B. S. Yediyurappa was elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Deve Gowda verbally abused Yediyurappa. This event was termed as a "new low in Indian politics". Deve Gowda later apologised for hurling abuse at him.
Deve Gowda expelled Siddaramaiah and CM Ibrahim from the JD(S) in 2005. Later, both Siddaramaiah and CM Ibrahim joined the Indian National Congress, which won the 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, with Siddaramaiah being elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
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. He has been elected to Rajya Sabha.

## 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. 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 |
| 1962 | Holenarasipur | IND | Won | 12,622 | H. D. Doddegowda | INC | 7,338 |
| 1967 | Holenarasipur | IND | Won | 20,594 | H. D. Doddegowda | INC | 12,191 |
| 1972 | Holenarasipur | INC(O) | Won | 26,639 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 20,475 |
| 1978 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 33,992 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 28,472 |
| 1983 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 37,239 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 28,158 |
| 1985 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 41,230 | G. Puttaswamy Gowda | IND | 38,063 |
| 1985 | Sathanur | JNP | Won | 45,612 | D. K. Shivakumar | INC | 29,809 |
| 1989 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Lost | 45,461 | G. Puttaswamy Gowda | INC | 53,297 |
| 1994 | Ramanagara | JD | Won | 47,986 | C. M. Lingappa | INC | 38,392 |
Parliament Elections :
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | Votes | Opposition Candidate | Opposition Party | Opposition votes |
| 1991 | Hassan | JNP | Won | 2,60,761 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 2,57,570 |
| 1998 | Hassan | JD | Won | 3,36,407 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 3,04,753 |
| 1999 | Hassan | JD(S) | Lost | 2,56,587 | G. Putta Swamy Gowda | INC | 3,98,344 |
| 2002 (bypoll) | Kanakapura | JD(S) | Won | 5,81,709 | D. K. Shivakumar | INC | 5,29,133 |
| 2004 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 4,62,625 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 2,72,320 |
| 2004 | Kanakapura | JD(S) | Lost | 4,62,320 | Tejashwini Sreeramesh | INC | 2,72,320 |
| 2009 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 4,96,429 | K. H. Hanume Gowda | BJP | 2,05,316 |
| 2014 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 5,09,841 | A. Manju | INC | 4,09,379 |
| 2019 | Tumkur | JD(S) | Lost | 5,82,788 | G. S. Basavaraj | BJP | 5,96,127 |

## 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 | |