Ananth Kumar

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H N Ananth Kumar
File:Ananth Kumar.jpg
Ananth Kumar in BJP National Executive Meet in Goa
Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers
Member of Parliament
for Bangalore South
Assumed office
26 May 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
Preceded by Srikant Kumar Jena
Personal details
Born (1959-07-22) 22 July 1959 (age 65)
Bengaluru Karnataka
Political party BJP
Spouse(s) Tejaswini
Children 2 daughters
Residence Bengaluru
Alma mater Karnataka University
Religion Hinduism
Website ananth.org
As of 19 August, 2010

Ananth Kumar, (born 22 July 1959) is a member of the Indian political party BJP.[1] He represents the Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka[1] where he has been elected six times consecutively.[1] As of 2014, he is currently the Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers in Prime Minister, Narendra Modi's cabinet.[2]

Politics

Having been influenced by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, he was a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the students wing of the BJP. During the Emergency, he was imprisoned along with thousands of other student activists.[3] He was elected as the State Secretary of the ABVP and later, became its National Secretary in 1985. He later joined BJP and was nominated as the State President of BJP Yuva Morcha. He was then made National Secretary of the party in 1996.[3]

He was elected from Bangalore South Lok Sabha constituency to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996. In 1998 he was re elected and was inducted into the Union Cabinet headed by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the Minister for Civil Aviation. In 1999, he was re-elected to a 3rd Consecutive term and became a cabinet minister in the National Democratic Alliance government. He handled various ministries like Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.[3]

He became the President of the Karnataka state unit of BJP in 2003 and led the state unit which became the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly and won the highest number of Lok Sabha seats in Karnataka in 2004. In 2004, he was appointed as the National General Secretary of the BJP and has held that post ever since.[3]

On 26 May 2014, Kumar was appointed Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers in newly elected Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.[2]

Controversies

  • In August 2005, Centre for Public Interest Litigation had alleged that as the Urban Development Minister, Ananth Kumar misused the funds for paying his mobile bills and other private affairs.[4][5] The petitioner Prashant Bhushan alleged that the actions of Anantha Kumar had caused considerable loss to the public exchequer, Anantha Kumar had blatantly violated the code of ethics for public sector undertakings and entered into a conspiracy to divert public funds for extraneous considerations.[6]
  • Prashant Bhushan has alleged that as the urban development minister in the NDA government, Ananth Kumar benefited from illegally sanctioned loans in the Rs. 145 billion HUDCO scam.[7]
  • RK Anand has alleged that Ananth Kumar was the first major political acquaintance of Niira Radia, who was involved in the Radia tapes controversy. She allegedly tried to influence him into switching from Boeing to Airbus for meeting the new fleet requirements of the government-owned airlines, to get hefty commissions.[8] Rao Dhiraj Singh, an ex-partner of Niira Radia, alleged that Radia's rise as a lobbyist was due to leakage of classified Cabinet papers by Ananth Kumar. He also alleged that Ananth Kumar had a joint account with Niira Radia in a Swiss bank.[9]
  • Kumar was named by the Aam Aadmi Party as one of the 25 most corrupt politicians, in late January 2014. He has slapped a defamation notice against AAP for the allegation.[10] Later, Pramod Muthalik, head of Sri Ram Sene, also claimed that Ananth Kumar had been involved with a corruption scam worth Rs 14,000 crore. Mr Muthalik also mentioned of having enough evidence to prove the allegation. Kumar did not send any legal notice to Muthalik.[11]
  • In September 2014, Bagalkot Police filed an FIR against Ananth Kumar’s wife Tejaswini in connection with the Basaveshwar Vidya Vardhak Sangh(BVVS) money scam. The institute, located at Bidadi near Bangalore, comes under the Knowledge Park India Trust and operated with the Basaveshwar Veerashsiva Vidyavargaka Sangha (BVS) in Bagalkot as per a deal worth Rs.24 crore.[12][13]

Personal life

Ananth Kumar was born on 22 July 1959 in Bangalore, Karnataka [15] to H N Narayan Sastry and Girija.[16] He graduated in faculty of Arts (B.A) from K S Arts College, Hubli affiliated to the Karnatak University and later, completed his bachelors in law (L.L.B) from J.S.S. Law College affiliated to the Mysore University. He married Tejaswini and the couple have 2 daughters – Aishwarya and Vijeta.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Detailed Profile – Shri Ananth Kumar – Members of Parliament (Lok Sabha) – Who's Who – Government: National Portal of India
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 http://164.100.47.132/lssnew/Members/Biography.aspx?mpsno=20
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Congress dares BJP to expel Ananth for Radia links
  10. ↑ BJP leader Ananth Kumar slaps legal notice to Arvind Kejriwal
  11. ↑ http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-now-pramod-muthalik-released-book-against-ananth-kumar-1978085
  12. ↑ http://www.mangaloretoday.com/headlines/Ananth-Kumar-rsquo-s-wife-Tejaswini-embroiled-in-educational-trust-scam.html
  13. ↑ http://knowyourneta.info/topic/case-filed-against-union-ministers-wife-233.htm
  14. ↑ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ananth-Kumar-takes-chartered-jet-Amit-Shah-awaits-delayed-flight/articleshow/42545489.cms
  15. ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/elections/article/people/ananth-kumar-six-straight-term-mp-from-bangalore-is-minister-of-chemicals-and-fertilizers-530919
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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