Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (; born 18 May 1933 in) is an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka. He served as the 11th

prime minister of India 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 ...

from 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th

Chief Minister of Karnataka The Chief minister (India), chief minister of Karnataka, formerly known as the chief minister of Mysore, is the Head of government, chief executive officer of the Government of Karnataka, government of the India, Indian state of Karnataka. As pe ...

from 1994 to 1996. He presently is a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in the

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

representing

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO 15919, ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reor ...

. He is the National President of the

Janata Dal (Secular) The Janata Dal (Secular) is an Indian political party led by former prime minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda. The party is recognized as a State Party in the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Arunachal Pradesh. It was formed in July 1999 by the ...

party. Born in a farming family, he joined the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...

party in 1953, and remained a member until 1962. He was imprisoned during the Emergency. He became President of the state unit of

Janata Dal Janata Dal (“People’s Party”) was an Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Janata Party factions, the Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha united on 11 October 1988 on the birth annivers ...

in 1994, and was considered to be a driving force in the party's victory in

. He served as the 14th

from 1994 to 1996. In the 1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government. When the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

, a coalition of regional parties, formed the central government with the support of the Congress, Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government and was elected Prime Minister. During his tenure as prime minister, he also served as Home Minister for some time. His prime ministerial tenure lasted for less than a year. After his prime ministerial tenure, he was elected to the 12th (1998), 14th (2004), 15th, and

16th Lok Sabha Members of the 16th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2014 Indian general election. The elections were conducted in 9 phases from 7 April 2014 to 12 May 2014 by the Election Commission of India. The results of the election were declared on 16 M ...

, as Member of Parliament for the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency. He lost Lok Sabha elections in 2019 from Tumkuru but has been elected to Rajya Sabha since.

Early life

H. D. Deve Gowda was born on 18 May 1933 in

Haradanahalli Haradanahalli is a village in the Holenarasipur Taluk of Hassan District in the state of Karnataka, India. Haradanahalli is home town of 11th Prime Minister of India, H. D. Deve Gowda who was born on 18 May 1933 in Haradanahalli village. Not ...

, a village in

Holenarasipura Holenarasipura is a town and taluk in Hassan district of Karnataka. The town is situated on the banks of the Hemavati, one of the tributaries of the Kaveri. Demographics India census, Holenarasipura had a population of 29,938. Males constit ...

Taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...

, of the erstwhile

Kingdom of Mysore The Kingdom of Mysore was a realm in South India, southern India, traditionally believed to have been founded in 1399 in the vicinity of the modern city of Mysore. From 1799 until 1950, it was a princely state, until 1947 in a subsidiary allia ...

(now in Hassan,

). His father Dodde Gowda was a

paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon * Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird species *Black-faced s ...

farmer and mother, Devamma was a home maker. Gowda earned a diploma in

civil engineering Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...

from L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan, in the early 1950s. Deve_Gowda_and_Manmohan_Singh

Politics

Gowda joined the

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. In 1962, Gowda was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Holenarasipura constituency as an

independent candidate An independent or non-partisan politician is a politician not affiliated with any political party or bureaucratic association. There are numerous reasons why someone may stand for office as an independent. Some politicians have political views th ...

. Later, he was elected from the same constituency to the Assembly for six consecutive terms from 1962 to 1989. He joined the

Congress (O) The Indian National Congress (Organisation) also known as Congress (O) or Syndicate/Old Congress was a political party in India formed when the Congress party split following the expulsion of Indira Gandhi. On 12 November 1969, the Prime Ministe ...

during the Congress split and served as the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly from March 1972 to March 1976 and again from November 1976 to December 1977. During the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

(1975–77), he was imprisoned in the Bangalore Central Jail. Gowda was the two time President of state unit of the

Janata Party The Janata Party ( JP, lit. ''People's Party'') was a political party that was founded as an amalgam of Indian political parties opposed to the Emergency that was imposed between 1975 and 1977 by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi of the Indian Nati ...

. He continued to win from Holenarasipur assembly segment on Janata Party's ticket in 1978, 1983 and 1985. He served as a minister in the Janata Party Government in Karnataka headed by

Ramakrishna Hegde Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde (29 August 1926 – 12 January 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the tenth Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1 ...

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. But he lost from Holenarasipur in 1989, and soon later rejoined Janata Dal. He became President of the state unit of

in 1994 and was the driving force behind the victory of the party in the 1994 State Assembly elections. He was elected from the Ramanagara, and sworn in as the 14th

in December. In January 1995, Gowda toured

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and attended the Forum of International Economists. His tour to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

brought in foreign investment to the State.

Prime Minister

In the 1996 general elections, the Congress party headed by

P. V. Narasimha Rao Pamulaparthi Venkata Narasimha Rao (28 June 1921 – 23 December 2004) was an Indian lawyer, statesman and politician who served as the 9th prime minister of India from 1991 to 1996. He is known for introducing various liberal reforms to Indi ...

lost decisively but no other party won enough seats to form a government. When the

(a conglomeration of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties) decided to form the Government at the Centre with the support of the Congress, Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government and became the 11th

Prime Minister of India 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 ...

. He took over as

on 1 June 1996 and continued until 21 April 1997. Also, he was the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the United Front, the policy making apex body of all the constituents of the ruling front. He is credited for providing financial closure and kickstarting development of the

Delhi Metro The Delhi Metro is a mass rapid transit (MRT) system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurgaon, Noida, Bahadurgarh and Ballabhgarh, in the National Capital Region of India. The network consists of 10 colou ...

Project.

Post-premiership

The

traces its roots back to the Janata Party founded 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 l ...

who united all the opposition parties under one banner for the 1977 national elections. The

was formed on the merger of the Janata Party with smaller opposition parties in 1988.

Vishwanath Pratap Singh Vishwanath Pratap Singh (25 June 1931 – 27 November 2008), shortened to V. P. Singh, was an Indian politician who was the 7th Prime Minister of India from 1989 to 1990 and the 41st Raja Bahadur of Manda. He is India's only prime minister t ...

became the first

from Janata Dal when he headed the National Front government in 1989. Later Deve Gowda and

Inder Kumar Gujral Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998. Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalist ...

too became prime ministers heading the United Front (UF) coalition governments in 1996 and 1997 respectively. In 1999, when some senior leaders of the party decided to join hands with the

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

(BJP)-led NDA, the party split into factions. Many leaders, including

Madhu Dandawate Madhu Dandavate (21 January 1924 – 12 November 2005) was an Indian physicist and socialist politician, who served as Minister of Railways in the Morarji Desai ministry, and as Minister of Finance in the V P Singh ministry. Born in Ahmedna ...

and

Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, Siddaramaiah served as Chief Minister of Karnataka from 13 May 2013 to 17 May 2018 and currently serving as the leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assemb ...

, joined the Janata Dal (Secular) faction headed by Deve Gowda, who became the National president of this faction. He was defeated in the 1999 general elections. The 2004 elections in Karnataka witnessed the revival of his party's fortunes under the leadership of

with the

winning 58 seats and becoming a part of the ruling coalition in the state. Later, the party joined with the BJP and formed an alternate government in 2006. His son

H. D. Kumaraswamy Haradanahalli Deve Gowda Kumaraswamy, (born 16 December 1959) known among followers as Kumaranna (''Kumar, the elder brother''), is an Indian politician and businessman who served as the 18th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 23 May 2018 to 23 ...

headed the BJP-JD(S) coalition government in the state for 20 months. In the 2008 state elections, the party performed poorly and won just 28 seats, but it has remained a significant force in South Karnataka. Deve Gowda expelled

and CM Ibrahim JDS party, because Siddaramaiah led

AHINDA AHINDA (A Kannada acronym for Alpasankhyataru or minorities, Hindulidavaru or backward classes, and Dalitaru or Dalits) is a Political terminology coined by the Karnataka state's first backward leader Devraj Urs, AHINDA has been reinvigorated ...

movement; representing minority, backward, and

Dalit Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...

people in Karnataka. Later, both

and CM Ibrahim joined the Indian National Congress, which won the 2013 Vidhana Sabha election.

was elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka state in 2013. In 2008, JDS did not transfer the power to BJP with

B. S. Yediyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician currently serving as the member of the Bharatiya Janata Party Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, t ...

as CM in accord to the initial negotiation. This led to major setback for JDS in 2008 vidhana sabha election, JDS received only 28 seats compared to 58 seats in the 2004 vidhana sabha election. Since B. S. Yediyurappa is from Lingayath community, largest in the Karnataka state, many leaders in JDS from Lingayath community such as M.P. Prakash quit the party. B. S. Yediyurappa was elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka state in 2008. Deve Gowda abused B. S. Yediyurappa, who was then

chief minister of Karnataka The Chief minister (India), chief minister of Karnataka, formerly known as the chief minister of Mysore, is the Head of government, chief executive officer of the Government of Karnataka, government of the India, Indian state of Karnataka. As pe ...

. This event was termed as "new low in Indian politics". Gowda later apologised for hurling abuse at the chief minister of Karnataka. Deve Gowda contested the 2019 general elections against G. S. Basavaraj in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency of

. G. S. Basavaraj, BJP candidate of Tumkur Constituency won against Deve Gowda by a margin of 13,339 votes. G. S. Basavaraj polled 5,96,127 votes while Deve Gowda got 5,82,788 votes.

Personal life

He married Chennamma in 1954. They have six children together: four sons, including politicians H. D. Revanna and

, who is the former

, and two daughters.

Electoral history

Positions held

* 1962–1989, 1994–1996 : Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly (seven terms, losing only in 1989) * 1972–1976 : Leader of Opposition, Karnataka Legislative Assembly. Elected MLA as NCO candidate from Holenarasipur. * 1978 : Janata Party Member, Karnataka Legislative Assembly, from Holenarasipur * 1983–1988 : Minister for Public Works and Irrigation, Janata Party's Government of Karnataka. MLA from Holenarasipur. * 1989 : Karnataka State President of the new Janata Party (Jaya Prakash) faction.

Subramanian Swamy Subramanian Swamy (born 15 September 1939) is an Indian politician, economist and statistician. Before joining politics, he was a professor of Mathematical Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. He is known for his Hindu n ...

was the national president. He lost assembly election in 1989 as Janata Party (Jaya Prakash) candidate from Holenarasipur * 1990 : Left Janata Party (JP) of Subramanian Swamy, and joined Janata Dal * 1991 : Elected to

10th Lok Sabha List of Members of the 10th Lok Sabha, (20 June 1991 – 10 May 1996) elected during 1991 Indian general election held during May–June 1991. The Lok Sabha (House of the People) is the lower house in the Parliament of India, four sitting membe ...

from Hassan (Lok Sabha constituency) as Janata Dal candidate * 1991–1994 : Member, Committee on Commerce ** Member, Joint Parliamentary Committee on Fertilizers ** Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Agriculture * 1994 : President,

, Karnataka. * 1994–1996 :

, Janata Dal Government * Jun. 1996 – Apr. 1997 :

and also in charge of Ministries/Departments of Petroleum and Chemicals, Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Atomic Energy, Home Affairs, Agriculture, Food Processing Industries, Urban Affairs and Employment and Non-Conventional Energy Sources * 1996–1998 : Member,

* Nov. 1996-Apr. 1997 : Leader of the House,

* 1998 : Re-elected to

12th Lok Sabha This is the list of members of the 12th Lok Sabha, (10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999) after the 1998 Indian general election held during February–March 1998. This was the second consecutive Lok Sabha, like the 11th Lok Sabha elections that d ...

(2nd term). ** National President,

, which he founded in 1999. But he lost in the 13th Lok Sabha General Elections (in 1999) from Hassan to G Putta Swamy Gowda of Congress * 2002 : Entered

13th Lok Sabha The 13th Lok Sabha (10 October 1999 – 6 February 2004) is the thirteenth session of the Lok Sabha (House of the People, or lower house in the Parliament of India). It was convened after 1999 Indian general election held during September–Oc ...

winning a by-election from Kanakpura. (3rd term) * 2004 : Contested elections for

14th Lok Sabha The 14th Lok Sabha (17 May 2004 – 18 May 2009) was convened after the 2004 Indian general election held in four phases during 20 April – 10 May 2004, which led to the formation of first Manmohan Singh ministry (2004–2009). Indian Nation ...

from two seats. ** Was elected to

(4th term), from Hassan ** But lost from Kanakpura, where he came third behind the winner Tejaswini Gowda (Congress) and Ramachandra Gowda (BJP). * 2006–2008 : Member, Committee on Railways * 2009 : Re-elected to

15th Lok Sabha Members of the 15th Lok Sabha were elected during the 2009 general election in India. It was dissolved on 18 May 2014 by President Pranab Mukherjee. Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance won 44 more seats than the previou ...

(5th term) * 31 Aug 2009 : Member, Committee on Defence * 2014 : Re-elected to

(6th term) * 1 Sep 2014 : Appointed member, Standing Committee on Defence * 23 May 2019: Lost from

Tumkur Tumkur, officially renamed as Tumakuru, is a city located in the southern part of Indian state of Karnataka. Tumkur is situated at a distance of northwest of Bangalore, the state capital along NH 48 and NH 73. It is the headquarters of the ...

in 17th Lok Sabha elections. This was the third time he lost a Lok Sabha election as a former Prime Minister, after defeats in 1999 and 2004. * 2020 : Elected to

from Karnataka.

References

External links

*
Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda
''Prime Ministers Office, Archived'' , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Gowda, H. D. Deve 1933 births Living people People from Hassan district Prime Ministers of India India MPs 2004–2009 India MPs 2009–2014 Chief Ministers of Karnataka Gowda administration Indian National Congress politicians Indian National Congress (Organisation) politicians Janata Dal (Secular) politicians Janata Dal politicians Janata Party politicians Samajwadi Janata Party politicians Kannada people Ministers of Internal Affairs of India Rajya Sabha members from Karnataka India MPs 1991–1996 India MPs 1998–1999 India MPs 1999–2004 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Indians imprisoned during the Emergency (India) Leaders of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly Chief ministers from Janata Dal Agriculture Ministers of India India MPs 2014–2019 Ministers of Power of India Mysore MLAs 1962–1967 Mysore MLAs 1967–1972 Mysore MLAs 1972–1977 Members of the Mysore Legislature Karnataka MLAs 1978–1983 Karnataka MLAs 1983–1985 Karnataka MLAs 1985–1989