Karnataka's Sadananda Gowda on Thursday took oath as a Union Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's new ministry.
Though Gowda was first appointed as the Minister for Railways in May 2014, he was shifted within a few months to the Law and Justice Ministry in November 2014 and later to Statistics and Programme Implementation in July 2016 during the cabinet reshuffles.
After the sudden death of Union Minister H.N. Ananth Kumar on November 12, 2018, Gowda was given the Chemicals and Fertilisers Ministry as an additional charge which he held till the government's five-year term ended this month.
Born on March 18, 1953, Kumar was six times elected as a member of the Lok Sabha from the high-profile Bangalore South seat.
After the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost power in the state in 2013 Assembly elections, Gowda was the party's opposition leader in the state legislative council from May 2013 to May 2014.
Gowda was BJP's second Chief Minister in Karnataka from August 1, 2011 to July 2012. The party's first Chief Minister of the state was B.S. Yeddyurappa who resigned on July 31, 2011.
Before returning to state politics, Gowda was the Lok Sabha member from Udupi-Chikmagalur from May 2009 to 2011 and from Mangalore (Dakshina Kannada) from 2004 to 2009.
He was a member of the state Legislative Assembly and opposition leader for two terms from his home turf Puttur in the coastal district from 1994 to 2004.
A Bachelor of Science and LLB degree holder, Gowda entered into student politics during his college days when pursuing law course in the mid-1970s and became the district General Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the Jan Sangh and later the BJP.
Gowda was also the state unit party President from 2006 to 2011.
--IANS
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