K. S. Eshwarappa - Political Career

Political Career

During Emergency (1975–77), he was arrested and detained in the Bellary Jail. After the removal of emergency, he became very active in politics. He worked in different capacities and in 1982, he became the president of the Shimoga city unit of B.J.P. His personal efforts were one of the main reasons in M. Anandarao winning from Shimoga as the first ever B.J.P candidate.

In 1989, he contested the Karnataka assembly elections as a BJP candidate from Shimoga and defeated a heavyweight and the then health Minister Sri K.H. Srinivas with a margin of 1304 votes. He became popular with this victory and went on to win four more times from this constituency, losing only once in 1999. Then he became the President of the state unit of the B.J.P in 1992 and was instrumental in the party's good performance in the 1994 state assembly elections. He was appointed as the Chairman of the Central Silk Board when the NDA government was in power.

In the BJP-JDS coalition Government headed by H.D.Kumaraswamy, he was Minister for Water Resources. Following the historic victory of the BJP in the Karnataka state elections in 2008, he became the minister for Power in the B.S. Yeddyurappa government.

In January 2010, he resigned as minister and was unanimously elected as the President of the Karnataka state unit of the ruling BJP. This move was seen as BJP’s strategy to tackle opposition leader in the assembly Siddaramaiah, who also belongs to the same community.

In July 2012, Jagadish Shettar became Chief minister following the resignation of D.V. Sadananda Gowda and Eshwarappa became Deputy Chief minister of Karnataka. He holds the Revenue and Rural development portfolios.