Controversial Hindu hardliner makes it to Modi ministry

There are many cases against 'doctor-basher' Hegde

Newly-inducted Union Minister of State Ananth Kumar Hegde has a controversial past and there are several cases against him for making inflammatory speeches.

Forty-nine-year-old Hegde is a known Hindutva hardliner in the BJP and his strong links with the RSS is said to have helped him in securing a berth in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers.

A five-time MP fromUttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency (known as Canara constituency before delimitation), Hegde entered Parliament winning the 1996 elections when he was only 28 defeating the Congress veteran Margaret Alva. He was associated with the Hindu Jagarana Vedike and was the Kodagu convenor of the forum before associating himself with the BJP.

Hedge, who prides himself as a Korean martial Tae-kwon-do practitioner, had sparked a controversy in January this year after he was caught on camera slapping doctors and staff of a private hospital at Sirsi in his constituency over his mother’s treatment.

Hegde’s mother had been admitted to the TSS hospital after a fall. CCTV footage from hospital, which went viral, showed the lawmaker accusing the two doctors of not giving his mother enough attention and thrashing them. A police case was registered against him. Last year, he was charged with hurting religious sentiments after he linked Islam to terror. A case was filed against him under the Indian Penal Code but Hegde stood his ground stating that it was his “honest” opinion.

Cases of rioting, unlawful assembly and promoting enmity among groups were lodged against him in 1993 for being a part of the mob during riots in the communally-sensitive coastal town of Bhatkal. In 1994, he dodged prohibitory orders in Hubballi and reached the disputed Idgah Maidan with two others to the hoist the national flag on August 15.

Hedge’s pick as a minister has come as a surprise in Karnataka political circles as his name did not figure in the probables for a ministerial berth from the state, with speculation that an MP from the dominant Lingayat community will be inducted into the Council of Ministers. However, Hedge’s strong ties with the RSS, which wanted a hard core Hindu face from Karnataka to figure in ministry ahead of the state Assembly polls, fetched him the post, sources said.