New Delhi : A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency, having entered the Parliament at the age of 27, who he defeated sitting Congress MP Margaret Alva — and has never lost an election since, “Ananth Kumar Hegde” is given the charge of responsibility as Minister of State for Skill Development.
He has served as member of the parliamentary standing committees on finance, home affairs, human resource development, commerce, agriculture and external affairs. He has also been a member of the Spices Board of India for four terms.Currently he is the member of parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs and Human Resources.
Born on 20 May, 1968 at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada to a Brahmin family, Hegde is intermediate educated, and has interest towards Tae Kwon Do (Korean Martial Arts). Currently the Karnataka BJP Vice President, he is also the founder president of Kadamba, a national-level NGO working in the field of rural development, rural health, formation of self help groups, rural marketing among others.
Hegde, who was a RSS member in his young days and later an ABVP activist, rose through the ranks in the aftermath of Babri Masjid demolition. He was in the news in January this year for allegedly assaulting doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi, over the alleged delay in treating to his mother. Sirsi police had registered a suo motu case against Hegde on the basis of evidence from CCTV footage.
He faced his first case of rioting, unlawful assembly and promoting enmity in 1993, when he was allegedly part of a rioting mob in Bhatkal. In 1994, he caught the attention of RSS by dodging prohibitory orders in Hubli, north Karnataka and raised the Tricolour flag at disputed Idgah Maidan on Independence Day. In March 2016, a case was filed against him in Sirsi for hate speech after he remarked at a press conference, “As long as there is Islam, there will be no peace in the world.”
Hegde’s pick has come as a surprise in Karnataka political circles as his name had not figured in the probables for ministerial birth from the state with a speculation that an MP from a dominant Lingayat community, BJP’s strong vote base, would be inducted.
Note: News shared for public awareness with reference from the information provided at online news portals.
