HN Ananthkumar’s demise a big setback to BJP in Karnataka

HN Ananthkumar’s demise a big setback to BJP in Karnataka



HN Ananthkumar’s untmimely demise has literally come as a catastrophe to the Karnataka unit

of Bharatiya Janata Party. No one had ever wondered that the typical middle class boy who had

transformed over a period of time into a national leader would meet such a ghastly end so soon.

But ultimately fate had its last laugh.

Looking back at the political history of the state Siddavanahalli Nijalingappa was the only person

to become the President of All India National Congress. BD Jatti was Vice President and Acting

President for some time.

HD Devegowda becoming the Prime Minister and SR Bommai becoming the President of

Janata Dal are notable developments as far as the state’s leaders are concerned. Although

Ramakrishna Hegade nurtured an ambition of becoming the Prime Minister lost the race

miserably.

In that way HN Ananthkumar had a slow beginning initially but within a couple of decades his

political career took the shape of meteoric growth. He like most BJP leaders of his generation

owed his allegiance to Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishat(ABVP),the student wing of the party

to start with.

HN Narayanashastri and Girija Shastri, parents of Ananthkumar didn’t come from any political

background. Narayanshastri hailed from a village near Devanahalli on the outskirts of

Bengaluru. But he had shifted to Hubballi for being transferred there and eventually settled

there. He was working in the Indian Railways.

Thanks to Emergency, Girija Shastri became a household name in Hubballi-Dharwad twin cities

for her role in fighting against its imposition. After the draconian law was lifted she was elected a

corporator of the Municipal Corporation and also the Deputy Mayor.

Perhaps this grooming of politics at home took him far away. The biggest advantage ABVP

threw open to him was the state tours he had to undertake to strengthen the youth wing. He, by

the way of organizing also developed a strong personal and organizational network.

For being a fulltime worker of the RSS first and ABVP later he came in contact with the

Janasangh leaders of state and national level. Even his imprisonment for 40 days during the

Emergency also paved way for close personal contacts with luminaries like Atal Bihari

Vajapayee and Lal Krishna Advani.


His hard work, organizing capacity, oratory skills and connections with the people who mattered

helped him a lot to develop himself a big leader. But his plunge into full time politics was just

accidental.

As BS Yeddyurappa, former BJP chief minister and close aide, intimate friend turned adversary

recalls: In fact Ananthkumar wanted to become an advocate during the early eighties and had

come to Bengaluru to become one. Then I suggested him to remove the black coat and join

politics for better future. Luckily he obliged…

The association of BS Yeddyurappa and HN Ananthkumar is also peculiar as a peep into the

history of state and BJP politics will be hollow without the mention of them. KS Eshwarappa,

another veteran BJP leader adds: During those days all the three of us were called as Set

Dosas!(Three small dosas).

Both BS Yeddyurappa and HN Ananthkumar had stayed together in room number 154 of the

Legislators Home for five years and this companionship didn’t stop there. Even after

Ananthkumar got married the couple and Yeddyurappa started to stay in the house of S

Mallikarjunaiah, another party leader for another four years.

In this way BSY and HNA became two eyes of the party says DH Shankaramurthy, former

Chairman of the state legislative council. For whatever public movements the party initiated if

the idea was conceived by Ananthkumar the onus of fighting it on the streets laid upon

Yeddyurappa, recalls Shankaramurthy.

To his sheer luck again Ananthkumar became a reluctant candidate for the Bengaluru South

Lok Sabha constituency, the traditional opposition party bastion since the Congress regimes. Dr

K Venkatagirigowda, who had represented the constituency from the BJP, had left the party.

So a forced upon candidate, HN Ananthkumar continued to represent it successively for six long

terms which by itself is an yardstick of his political network, strength and popularity. Interestingly

not even once the same opposition candidate stood against him in all these six elections. Last

time he humbled Nandan Nilekani by a comfortable margin.


He not only became the youngest Lok Sabha Member of his times but also the youngest

minister in the Atal Bihari Vajapayee cabinet. Probably a noteworthy aspect of Ananthkumar’s

personality was discharging the duties to the best possible extent irrespective of the ministry

handed over to him.

And whichever portfolio he handled state interest used to be foremost in his mind. Even during

the first National Democratic Alliance (NDA) regime when the Dravida Munnetra

Kazagham(DMK) was literally blackmailing the government Ananthkumar ensured that the

state’s interests didn’t flow in Cauvery river waters.


The credit of bringing the present Kempegowda International Airport also goes to him just like

the Namma Metro to Bengaluru city. Kannada protagonists fondly remember his contribution for

ensuring classical language status when a big lobby was on to accord such position only to

Tamil.




Not that he also had a clean image as his name figured in the scandals during his stint as a

Union Urban Development Minister apart from his alleged close proximity with the infamous

Radia tape fame personality.


Personally he was a good friend and a hospitable host irrespective of party and ideological

differences. May be that’s the reason whether in power or not his help and assistance used to

be sought by the state chief ministers during troubled times.




But what continues to be intriguing is the way he became a victim to the fatal cancer in spite of

he himself having strived enough for the rescue of such patients. It may be recalled here that

even his mother succumbed to the deadly disease.


He had helped the Shankar Cancer Research Hospital with a grant of Rs. 10 crores from the

Union Government. Incidentally it was there where he was diagnosed of lung cancer and

passed away in the same hospital after treatment in the United States and United Kingdom.

-Manohar Yadavatti