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A hardcore Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh member and a controversial politician Ananth Kumar Hegde has emerged as a dark horse to find a ministerial slot.
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency, having entered the Parliament at the age of 28, he is currently the member of parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs and Human Resources.
Born on 20 May, 1968 at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada to a Brahmin family, Hegde is intermediate educated, and has interest in Taekwondo (Korean Martial Arts).
Currently the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party vice president, he is also the founder president of Kadamba, a national-level NGO working in the field of rural development, rural health, formation of self help groups, rural marketing among others.
He has also been the member of various parliamentary committees during his successive tenure as the member of Lok Sabha.
Hegde in March last year had sparked a controversy over his reported remarks allegedly linking Islam to terrorism, and is facing a case under IPC in this regard.
He had allegedly assaulted doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi in January this year, accusing them of not giving proper treatment to his mother. The CCTV images of the incident had gone viral.
Hegde’s pick has come as a surprise in Karnataka political circles as his name had not figured in the probables for ministerial birth from the state with a speculation that an MP from a dominant Lingayat community, BJP’s strong vote base, would be inducted.