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| Photo: Buisness Standard |
Doddalahalli Kempegowda Shivakumar or popularly referred to as DK Shivakumar or DKShi, former state minister and leader of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC) looks to be in a climax stage and deep trouble of his political career now.
He had been in the news earlier for trying to come to the rescue of his Congress party now and then. But in the changed circumstances he has landed up in a soup and seems to be heading for much more trouble on the way!
The present embroiled turn of events is not an overnight development. He had been under the radar of the Income Tax and other tax-related departments since long and got trapped in the net only a few years back.Just like his milestones of ensuring a crumbling defeat of his political adversaries his name has been entangled with controversies and alleged scandals and scams all along.If Gali Janardhan Reddy, former Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) minister and mining baron hitherto known for pumping in funds for the saffron party is dubiously noted for his infamous 'Ballari Republic' fame so is DKShi in Bengaluru Rural district.
The ground situation in Kanakapura and the whole of Bengaluru Rural district is either no better in comparison to the onslaught on mother earth in comparison to the unauthorised mining in Ballari district.If Ballari district boasts of huge metal ore deposits so is Kanakapura region for granite stones. A few decades back farmers allowed their fields to be excavated for throwaway prices. But over some time the same activity got developed into a multi-billion business!
Although DK Shivakumar and DK Suresh, his younger brother and lone Congress MP from the state rubbish the 'canards', people in the district admit in confidence: All business ventures, investments and commercial activities have some sort of direct or indirect connection and share of DK brothers!
At the same time, the public outcry is not found lacking in facts and figures. DK Suresh had all along been the man behind his elder brother's continuous knocks on the electoral front till he was roped in by the elder brother to contest from Bengaluru Rural Lok Sabha constituency in 2013.DK Suresh not only triumphed in the maiden effort but has also been successfully representing the Parliamentary constituency thrice.For DK brothers, as both of them are regarded in friendly circles, winning elections looks like child's play. Irrespective of the rival, heavyweight, strong candidate or whatsoever they have mastered the craft of crushing their political opponents! And the biggest advantage they have is that there are no formidable contenders to them in the whole district, lament local Janata Dal-Secular(JD-S) leaders.Their winning spree began from 1989 when DK Shivakumar emerged as a giant killer for trouncing HD Devegowda of the Janata Party in Sathanuru constituency. HD Devegowda was also defeated at Holenarasipura, his home turf in Hassan district during the 1989 general elections.
The smooth sailing of DKS in Sathanuru constituency also paved the way for a path of vengeance against HD Devegowda and his family, who till then had occupied a prime position in the state power politics.From 1989 onwards, he had no looking back and went on winning all the subsequent elections. He developed Kanakapura Assembly constituency after parts of Sathanuru got merged with it, as a family bastion.In 1999 DK Shivakumar defeated HD Kumaraswamy in Sathanuru and PGR Sindhia, another heavyweight of the Janata Pariwar in 2013 in Kanakapura. Earlier PGR Sindhia was continuously representing the constituency from 1983 onwards
He also holds the unique distinction of defeating three members of the HD Devegowda family in a row. After himself humbling HD Devegowda at Sathanuru Assembly constituency during 1989, he ensured HDD's defeat in 2004 at Kanakapura Lok Sabha constituency through Ms Tejasvini Sriramesh, a journalist turned politician and novice in electoral politics till then.The DK brothers combine also got defeated, Ms Anitha Kumaraswamy, wife of HD Kumaraswamy in the same Kanakapura, Sathanuru region!
During the political journey, he went on becoming a minister in the Congress regimes starting from Prisons and Guards and later handling portfolios like Urban Development, Energy, Major Irrigation and Medical Education.However, the real big trouble began to engulf him with the raids of sleuths from the Income Tax department on 02 August 2017. These raids were held when he was hosting the 44 Gujarat Congress MLAs' at the Eagleton resort on the outskirts of Bidadi town.
These legislators were specially flown to the city to rescue them from being poached by the ruling Gujarat Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) to defeat Ahmed Patel, Treasurer All India Congress Committee(AICC) in the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections.He had undertaken a similar feat in 2001 by sheltering Maharashtra Congress MLAs' when a crisis had developed within the then ruling Congress party. Then he had provided them hospitality at a luxury resort owned by a Bollywood producer.
Thanks to many such accolades to the party, his clout with the party high command rose from strength to strength thus evolving himself into an influential leader to reckon with.Of late, lady luck looks to be deceptive to the once strong leader referred as Sathanuru Tiger, Kanakapura Rock and what not in close intimate circles.
He has a penchant during his election and other public speeches of quoting Sanskrit verses from the Bhagwadgita, Vachana literature belonging to the 12th-century saint philosophers and noble thoughts from English literature to drive home his point against his political adversaries.By doing so he has drawn a great deal of admiration from his fan following who lose no time to adore his personality imbibed with such vocabulary and intellect.
All such tactics and oratory skills don't seem to have made any advantage or impact on the law-abiding agencies. To begin his innings in power politics, he became the Minister for Prisons and Home guards in the S Bangarappa led Congress party government from 1990 to 1992.
Now it looks to be a matter of time that he'll be entering the same prisons department, not as a minister but an under trial accused of being involved in money laundering crimes to the tune of many crores!
-Manohar Yadavatti
Hunter Hunted.
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