Hegannahalli Narayana Shastry Ananth Kumar (22 July 1959 – 12 November 2018) was an Indian politician affiliated with

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

(BJP). He was the

Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers The Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers in India is the federal ministry with administrative purview over three departments namely: *Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals *Department of Fertilizers. *Department of Pharmaceuticals. T ...

, Parliamentary Affairs of India from 2014 until his death in 2018. Ananth Kumar was an MP from South Bangalore 6 times, Minister of Chemicals and fertilizers from 26 May 2014, and Parliamentary affairs from 2016. He was a member of the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

for over two decades, having been elected to the

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, constitutionally the House of the People, is the lower house of India's bicameral Parliament, with the upper house being the Rajya Sabha. Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by an adult universal suffrage and a first-past ...

, the lower house, from

Bangalore South Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, from 1996 until his death. He also served as Minister for Civil Aviation, Tourism, Sports, Urban Development, and Poverty Alleviation.

Early life

Ananth Kumar was born in a middle-class

Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...

family at

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, Sheshadripuram,

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, and moved to Hubli in 1979. His father, H. N. Narayan Shastry, was employed with the

Indian Railways Indian Railways (IR) is a statutory body under the ownership of Ministry of Railways, Government of India that operates India's national railway system. It manages the fourth largest national railway system in the world by size, with a tot ...

. His family settled in

Hubli Hubli, officially known as Hubballi, is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka. The twin cities Hubli–Dharwad form the second largest city in the state by area and population and the largest city in North Karnataka. Hubli is in Dharwad distr ...

in 1979–80. His mother Smt Girija Shastry was a social worker associated with the

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) (ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the pol ...

. She served as the deputy

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of the

Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation (abbreviated as HDMC) is the Municipal Corporation responsible for the civic infrastructure and administration of the twin cities of Hubli and Dharwad, located in North Western part of Karnataka state in Indi ...

between 1985 and 1986. Kumar completed his

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

in Lamington School and

pre-university course The Pre-University Course or Pre-Degree Course (PUC or PDC) is an 2-year Senior Secondary Course under the 10+2 education system after Class 10th (SSLC, SSC) and the PUC commonly refers to Class 11th and Class 12th and called as 1st PUC (1st Year ...

in science PC Jabin College in Hubli. He earned bachelor's degree in arts from Kadasiddeshwar Arts College, affiliated to the

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission (India), University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accre ...

, and in

Laws Law is a set of rules that are created and are law enforcement, enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. ...

from JSS Law college, both in Hubli. Kumar joined the

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...

(RSS) in 1973 and took part in the

movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

started by

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for le ...

the following year. He was jailed in the Hubli sub-jail for a period of over 40 days during the emergency.

Politics

Ananth Kumar was a member of RSS' student wing, the

Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...

(ABVP). He was elected as the State Secretary of the ABVP. He later became its National Secretary in 1985. In 1987, he joined

BJP The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...

and was nominated as the State President of

Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha The Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) (translation: Indian People's Youth Front) is the youth wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the two major political parties in India. It was founded in 1978, and its first national president w ...

. He was then made National Secretary of the party in 1996. Ananth Kumar was elected from

Lok Sabha constituency to the

11th Lok Sabha General elections were held in India in 1996 Indian general election, April–May 1996 to elect the members of the 11th Lok Sabha. The result of the election was a hung parliament, which would see three Prime Ministers in two years and force t ...

in 1996. He was re-elected and was inducted into the

Second Vajpayee ministry Atal Bihari Vajpayee was sworn in as Prime Minister of India for second time on 19 March 1998. Here is the list of ministers in his ministry. Council of ministers Cabinet ministers Ministers of State E ...

. In 1999, he was re-elected to a third consecutive term and became a cabinet minister in the

National Democratic Alliance National Democratic Alliance (NDA) () is a Centre-right politics, centre-right to Right-wing politics, right-wing and Conservatism, conservative Indian big tent political alliance led by the right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It was foun ...

government. He handled various ministries like Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. Ananth Kumar became the President of the

state unit of

in 2003. It became the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly and won the majority number of Lok Sabha seats in 2004 in Karnataka. In 2004, he was appointed National General Secretary of the BJP. On 26 May 2014, Kumar was appointed

in the cabinet of the current

Indian Prime Minister The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

Narendra Modi. In the 2016 reshuffle, he was given the additional charge of

Parliamentary Affairs ''Parliamentary Affairs'' is a British peer-reviewed quarterly academic journal. Founded in 1947, it focuses on the government and politics of the United Kingdom, and also covers parliamentary systems across the world. It is published by the Oxf ...

Lok Sabha electoral performance

Governance

When Ananth Kumar was minister of Chemicals and fertilizers, he worked to reduce the prices of coronary stents that would help heart patients to an average benefit of close to a lakh. As the minister for chemicals and fertilizers, Kumar implemented 100% mandatory neem-coating of

urea Urea, also known as carbamide, is an organic compound with chemical formula . This amide has two amino groups (–) joined by a carbonyl functional group (–C(=O)–). It is thus the simplest amide of carbamic acid. Urea serves an important r ...

, in a move that was expected to save 6,500 crore annually in government subsidy or about 10,000 in total, by stopping diversion for industrial usage, apart from additional benefit of slowing the release of nitrogen, thus reducing the overall consumption. Ananth Kumar mandated price reduction by 69% on Knee Implants- from 1.5 to 2.5 lakh to the new price of 54,500. Under his guidance, number of Jan ''Aushadhi Kendras'' increased to over 4300 all over India (as on 1 November 2018) from 89 in May 2014. He launched Suvidha –

Bio-degradable Biodegradation is the breakdown of organic matter by microorganisms, such as bacteria and fungi. It is generally assumed to be a natural process, which differentiates it from composting. Composting is a human-driven process in which biodegradati ...

& environment friendly sanitary pads at just 2.50 per piece from 5 June 2018, on the occasion of International women's day (8 Mar 2018). He launched an initiative to revive 6 closed fertilizer plants with over 48,000 cr investment, along with coal and oil & natural gas ministry. Ananth Kumar signed an agreement for an International airport in

and took steps to improve the facilities in the HAL airport as the civil aviation minister in the Vajpayee government. Ananth Kumar formulated a transport policy in which cities with more than 10 lakh people would have metros. He had worked for the approval of the

Bengaluru Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Metro project by the Vajpayee cabinet. Ananth Kumar,

Sushma Swaraj Sushma Swaraj () (''née'' Sharma; 14 February 1952 – 6 August 2019) was an Indian lawyer, politician, and diplomat who served as the Minister of External Affairs of India in the first Narendra Modi government from 2014 to 2019. She is only ...

, M Venkaiah Naidu,

Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley (28 December 1952 – 24 August 2019) was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jait ...

were called "Delhi-4" or "D4" under the leadership of veteran L.K Advani, as they were based in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

and took care of various responsibilities in the party. He played his part in passing the GST (Goods and Services Tax) bill in July 2017. When NDA did not have a sufficient majority, Shri Ananth Kumar had convinced the other legislators regarding the importance of GST (Goods and Services Tax) to launch the bill. In 1998 Shri Ananth Kumar launched www.raktadan.org/ and www.ananth.org. He became the first Indian MP to launch his own website to serve his constituency. He was known as the

Face of

. Whenever representatives from

from any party came to him in

, he would contact the concerned officials and do everything he could to resolve their issues.

Personal life

Social work

He along with his wife, Tejaswini, founded Adamya Chetana Foundation, a nonprofit organisation for social service. It was setup in 1998 in memory of Girija Shastry, mother of Ananth Kumar. It supports underprivileged children with food in schools through the

Midday Meal Scheme The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal programme in India designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide. The programme supplies free lunches on working days for children in government primary and upper primary sc ...

. About 2,00,000 meals are served daily. He launched the initiative Green

1:1 as part of his larger initiative Sasyagraha, to achieve 1 tree per human ratio, from the current 7 humans per tree as against the ideal 7 trees per human per research by IISc. EcoChetana initiative was to promote GreenLifeStyle in the state of

. As part of

Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana Sansad Adarsh Gram Yojana ( hi, सांसद आदर्श ग्राम योजना , abbr.: SAGY) is a rural development programme broadly focusing upon the development in the villages which includes social development, cultural dev ...

(SAGY) Ananth Kumar had adopted the Ragihalli village. He introduced Arogya Chetana Mediclaim group insurance facility for schoolchildren inaugurated by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam.

Death

On 12 November 2018 he died due to pancreatic cancer and complications. He was survived by his wife, Tejaswini, and his two daughters, Aishwarya and Vijeta.

References

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website

Official website of Ananth Kumar

Adamya Chetana Trust
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, Ananth 1959 births 2018 deaths Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Lok Sabha members from Karnataka India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 India MPs 2014–2019 Politicians from Bangalore Kannada people Indian Hindus Karnatak University alumni Narendra Modi ministry Deaths from cancer in India Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Culture Ministers of India Civil aviation ministers of India Tourism ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India