Karnataka polls: BJP ticket almost sure for senior IAS officer Anil Kumar

BENGALURU: Senior bureaucrat and additional chief secretary (PWD) Anil Kumar BH, who is set to retire on July 31, has almost sealed his ticket from the ruling BJP to contest the 2023 Assembly polls.
The 1987-batch IAS officer, Kumar was one of the guests when RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat visited Gurupeetha’s head Sri Madara Channayya Swamiji at Chitradurga recently, which implies that he will enjoy the backing of both the swamiji and RSS.

He is likely to contest against former deputy chief minister Dr G Parameshwara from the Koratagere Assembly constituency and has already held several rounds of meetings. Parameshwara, who lost the seat in 2013 despite being in the run for the chief minister’s post as the then KPCC chief, is expected to face a tough fight as Kumar belongs to the SC left community, which has a substantial electorate in the constituency.

Son of BH Hanumanth Raju, a retired special deputy commissioner, and L  Sharadamma, a KPSC member, Kumar hails from Bellavi village in Tumakuru Rural that is adjacent to the Koratagere constituency. He is an MSc in nuclear physics from Bangalore University. Kumar, who started his career as the sub-divisional magistrate of Sagara in Shivamogga district, was noticed by the leaders for his initiatives to promote khadi and digitisation between 2013 and 2017, when he was on central deputation.