With Kumar's steady political growth, his association with the Sangh, where he was mentored politically, also grew stronger.
A
staunch RSS ideologue, a hard boiled organisation man, Bengaluru's
"most loved" MP and the first person to speak in Kannada in
the United Nations are some of the connotations associated with Union
Minister Ananth Kumar.
Known
for his political adroitness, Kumar, a six-time member of Parliament,
gregarious with strong political instincts, had managed to be in the
inner circle of the central leadership of the BJP -- be it during the
heyday of Atal Bihari Vajpayee or L K Advani and now Narendra Modi.
Born
in a middle class Brahmin family on July 22, 1959, in Bengaluru to
Narayan Shastri, a railway employee, and Girija N Shastry, his early
education began under the guidance of his mother who herself was a
graduate.
Graduate
in Arts and Law, Kumar's journey into public life began due to his
association with the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student
organisation of the Sangh Pariwar, which he served in various
capacities, including the state secretary and the national secretary.
Kumar
had even demonstrated against the then Indira Gandhi government's
imposition of Emergency and had also got imprisoned for it for about
30 days.
With
his steady political growth, his association with the Sangh, where he
was mentored politically, also grew stronger.
Looking
for bigger ground in politics, Kumar joined the Bharatiya Janata
Party in 1987, where he went on to to take up the responsibilities of
state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general
secretary and national secretary.
Along
with state BJP
chief Yeddyurappa, Kumar is among a few party leaders who can be
credited for the growth of BJP in Karnataka, as they built the party
from the scratch, which paved the way for the installation of the
first ever saffron party government in the South.
Kumar
began his parliamentary career when he got elected to Lok Sabha in
1996 from Bangalore South, the constituency which remained his strong
fort till his passing sway, by winning it for six consecutive times.
He
enjoyed the credit of being the "youngest" minister in the
Atal Bihari Vajpayee's cabinet in 1998. He served as the Civil
Aviation minister, also Minister for Tourism, Sports, Youth Affairs &
Culture, Urban development & poverty alleviation.
Kumar,
who also held positions in various parliamentary committees, was
serving as the Union Cabinet Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and
Chemicals and Fertilizers in the Narendra Modi led government, after
winning the 15th Lok Sabha election from Bengaluru south by defeating
IT Czar Nandan Nilekani.... Read
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