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Karnataka Elections 2023: 5 Points About Congress Leader DK Shivakumar

March 20, 2023
Bharat Times

DK Shivakumar is one of the most popular faces of Congress in Karnataka. (file)

Bengaluru:

DK Shivakumar is one of the most popular faces of Congress in Karnataka. The Congress state chief is a troubleshooter and was crucial to the party forming a government with the Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), after the 2018 assembly elections.

A prominent leader of the Vokkaliga community, Mr. Shivakumar rose to prominence when he contested against HD Deve Gowda from the Sathanur seat in the 1985 assembly elections. Though he lost the election, DKS, as he is popularly known, emerged as a strong leader in Karnataka. He was a protege of former chief minister SM Krishna, who was also from the Vokkaliga community.

Here are five things about the Congress leader:

  1. Mr. Shivakumar is a seven-time MLA. In 1985, he contested on Congress ticket from Sathanur seat but lost to former Mr. Gowda. Mr. Shivakumar won from the constituency for the first time in 1989. In 2008, he won the Kanakapura seat and retained it in 2013 and 2018.
  2. He has handled various portfolios as a minister. He has served as the Energy Minister and Irrigation Minister of Karnataka in previous governments.
  3. Mr. Shivakumar defeated Mr. Gowda’s son H.D. Kumaraswamy and defeated him by over 14,000 votes.
  4. In 2020, Mr. Shivakumar was appointed as the President of the Karnataka Congress.
  5. His brother, DK Suresh, is the Congress MP from the Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency.