Actor turned politician M H Ambareesh popularly known as ‘rebel star’ to his fans, forayed into politics in the year 1994. A native of Doddarasinakere in Mandya district, Ambareesh is the grandson of renowned violinist Chowdaiah popular as ‘Piteel’ Chowdaiah.

Though Ambareesh began with Congress, he switched over to JD(S) in the year 1996, after the denial of ticket to parliamentary elections from Mandya.  He contested the by-elections to Assembly from Ramanagar in the year 1997, but lost the seat. However, he scored a victory in the parliamentary elections from Mandya in the year 1998.

Owing to some differences in JD (S) too, he returned to Congress fold and successfully contested the Lok Sabha polls in 1999 and 2004. He also served as the union minister of State for information and publicity department in the year 2006. He quit the ministry owing to the Cauvery river water sharing dispute between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. In the later years, Ambareesh had to face electoral defeats. He contested the Assembly polls from Srirangapatna in the year 2008, but lost.  He also couldn’t make it to the Parliament in 2009. Lady luck smiled on Ambareesh in the recent elections. He won by a huge margin of over 42,000 votes.
In his film career spanning four decades, Ambareesh has acted in over 200 films. Recently, Karnatak University Dharwad (KUD) conferred honorary doctorate on Ambareesh in recognition of his service to the filmdom.

Fans celebrate

 Fans and supporters of Ambareesh burst crackers and distributed sweets here to celebrate his induction into the State Cabinet, in Mandya, on Saturday. His supporters gathered at Krishnaraja Circle (Sanjay Talkies), shouting slogans in favour of their leader to express their happiness. A meeting has been convened on May 19 (Sunday) at 4 pm at Hotel Amaravathi to chalk out a programme to felicitate Ambareesh.