Ananth Kumar Biography

Ananth Kumar

Ananth Kumar Biography

Ananth Kumar was an Indian political leader and social worker, trader, and also a successful industrialist. He was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of the 14th Lok Sabha of India elected from Bangalore. He was born on July 22, 1959 in Bangalore (Karnataka) to H.N. Narayan Shastry and Girija N. Shastry. He married Smt. Tejaswini A. on February 15, 1989 and has two daughters. He passed his graduation in arts from K.S. Arts College and L.L.B degree from J.S.S. Law College, Karnataka University. He died on November 12, 2018 due to lung cancer.

Ananth Kumar was an influential leader of BJP in Karnataka. He was influenced by the ideologies of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in his college days and became a part of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (A.B.V.P), a student wing of BJP. While participating in the J.P. Movement against Emergency Rule in India, during 1975-77, he was imprisoned for almost 40 days.

At a very early age, he was elected as the secretary of A.B.V.P., of Karnataka from 1982 to 85 and then appointed as the National Secretary of the organization from 1985 to 87.

Ananth Kumar joined Bharatiya Janata Party, after graduating from A.B.V.P. He was appointed as the secretary of B.J.P, Karnataka from 1987 to 88, then its General Secretary from 1988 to 95 and finally rose to the position of National Secretary of B.J.P from 1995 to 98.

Ananth Kumar was elected in the four Lok Sabha elections consecutively, in the 11th, 12th, 13th and in the 14th Lok Sabha elections. He was one of the distinguished leaders to raise his voice and fight for the Ram Janmabhoomi cause in Karnataka. In 1998, he was included in the cabinet led by Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the minister for Civil Aviation.

This youngest minister in the Vajpayee’s cabinet efficiently handled a number of ministries like Tourism, Sports, Youth Affairs & Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation. During his tenure he introduced various fresh innovative approaches, diplomatic thinking, and planning, improving the lives of millions of people through various developmental projects.