KPCC chief G. Parameshwara takes oath as the state’s first Dalit deputy chief minister, while K.R. Ramesh Kumar takes on a challenging stint as speaker.

Bengaluru: It will be an emotional moment for G. Parameshwara when he takes oath as the deputy chief minister of Karnataka Wednesday, the first Dalit to hold the high office in the state.

As a child, Parameshwara and his brother received haircuts from their father, an upcoming politician, because barbers in their hometown, Golahalli, would turn them away for being Dalits. A barber reportedly even admonished the two children once for having the “temerity” to enter his shop despite being Dalits. Often, their neighbours’ casteist beliefs meant restricted access to water for the family, Parameshwara once said at a press meet.

So, when a Dalit gets discriminated against, the pain is personal for Parameshwara, a former college official goaded into a political career by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

A former administrative officer at Sri Siddhartha Institute of Technology, Tumakuru, Parameshwara has always maintained a low profile and a non-controversial image.

After acquiring a PhD in agricultural sciences, he found himself repeatedly accompanying the then state education minister S.M. Yahya on his trips to Delhi, which is where he met Gandhi.

However, it was on a visit to Tumakuru just before his assassination that Gandhi saw in Parameshwara a potential mass leader. After much persuasion, Parameshwara joined the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) as joint secretary.

Now the longest-serving KPCC chief, Parameshwara, according to sources, has never jostled for posts. Even so, he has held several key positions, including that of state home minister in the Siddaramaiah government.

He has been elected to the Karnataka assembly five times from two seats, Koratagere and Madhugiri. In 2013, he was the frontrunner for the post of chief minister but lost the election.

His appointment as deputy chief minister is meant to communicate to the people that the coalition partners are committed to the welfare of the Dalits as well as building a clean government.

Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar

With an opposition nearly as strong as the government, the JD(S)-Congress coalition knew they needed a strong candidate to steer proceedings in the Karnataka assembly. And they found exactly that in Congress leader K.R. Ramesh Kumar, who was picked as the new speaker.

Six-time MLA Ramesh Kumar, who defied precedent to retain his seat this poll season, represents Srinivasapura, known as the town of mangoes because it produces 63 varieties of the summer delight.

This Karnataka election marks the first time in nearly four decades that Srinivasapura has re-elected a representative. Since 1983, the people have elected either Ramesh Kumar or his rival Venkatashiva Reddy, who have both switched between the Congress and the ‘Janata pariwar’.

As a JD(S) member too Ramesh Kumar served as speaker. In 1994, he was nominated to the post by H.D. Deve Gowda when the Janata Dal formed the state government.

Ramesh Kumar’s first brush with politics was during his days as a student at the Government Arts College, Bengaluru, in the 1970s. He was one of the few Brahmins selected by former chief minister Devaraj Urs to contest on a Congress ticket.

Since then, Ramesh Kumar has established himself as a leader unabashedly emotional on issues concerning the poor, but with a sense of humour that can disarm the fiercest opponent.

He is also an advocate for gender equality. Before becoming the health minister in the Siddaramaiah cabinet, Ramesh Kumar headed a committee on amendments to the state Panchayat Raj Act, along with former union panchayat raj minister Mani Shankar Aiyar. One of the primary recommendations of the committee led to the establishment of ‘mahila panchayats’, set up to give women a voice in local administration.

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