HD Kumaraswamy’s political trajectory has been one of swimming against the tide to achieve his targets, whether it was the first time he won as an MP from the Kanakapura Lok Sabha seat in 1996 or the Mandya Lok Sabha seat he won this time. His critics and supporters have one common thing to say about him — he rises like a phoenix each time he loses a battle, just like his father Deve Gowda.
The analogy is one close to Kumaraswamy’s heart. When Deve Gowda demitted the Prime Minister’s post in 1997, he had vowed he will “rise like a phoenix from the ashes”. Kumaraswamy, while kickstarting his Assembly election campaign in 2023, had claimed to be the phoenix his father had referred to more than two decades ago.
Joining the Narendra Modi 3.0 Cabinet, HDK, as he is often referred to, has finally secured a central ministerial berth, one that the JDS could not achieve since 1996 when Deve Gowda became Prime Minister. Kumaraswamy is Gowda’s younger son.
Standing tall among the other NDA partners, Kumaraswamy, in a traditional panche (dhoti), has had a phenomenal journey from Bengaluru to Delhi. What started as a political move to save the JDS from splitting in the early 2000s has now cemented the JDS’s future with the backing of the BJP.
“I first thank Modi ji and the people of Karnataka. The people of Karnataka blessed the BJP and JD(S) alliance. I got an opportunity to serve the country. For me, working for the welfare of Karnataka and the whole country is important. Which portfolio I am getting is not important… (what is important is) if I am able to meet the expectations of the people of Karnataka through my work as a Union Minister,” said HDK on the day of his swearing-in ceremony.
A former minister in the Kumaraswamy-led JDS government and now Chairman of the Legislative Council Basavaraj Horatti recalls a trip with then chief minister Kumaraswamy. He was travelling between Mysore and Bangalore when a police constable saw him and wished him saying “Namaste Kumaranna”.
Shocked by how a constable could call a CM by name, the vexed minister asked Kumaraswamy how he felt about it.
“Kumaraswamy calmed me down and said ‘he is calling out to me from his heart. It is his love for me that he for that minute forgot he is a police officer. This is what I live for’. He is a man with a wonderful heart, one who understands the pulse of the people,” said Horatti.
“Many decisions were taken against the wishes of his father, but his sharp strategy, commitment towards the political growth of the regional party, and sincerity have brought him to this position today,” said the leader who until 2022 was with the JD-S and is now with the BJP.
The two-time Chief Minister of Karnataka has often been referred to as the ‘kingmaker’ in the southern state, as the JD(S), the party run by his father and patriarch Deve Gowda, has on more than one occasion been responsible for forming alliances with the Congress and BJP to be in power. Both times, the JD-S formed an alliance, Kumaraswamy was made the Chief Minister.
With inputs from News18