H D Deve Gowda's 88th birthday: Things you may not know about the former PM

During the emergency in 1975-1977, Deve Gowda was imprisoned in Bangalore Central Jail. More such facts about the leader

'Son of the soil' former prime minister H D Deve Gowda is celebrating his 88th birthday on May 18. The National President of the Janata Dal (Secular) party, Devegowda is known for his exemplary political career as the 11th Prime Minister, a four-time Member of Parliament in Lok Sabha between 1998 and 2019. He is presently a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.

Here are some less known facts about the former PM you may not have known.

1. Deve Gowda was born in 1933 in Haradanahalli, a village in Holenarasipura taluk of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore in a Vokkaliga caste family. He holds a diploma in civil engineering.

2. The former PM won his first election to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1962 as an independent candidate, even though in his early political activities, he was part of the Indian National Congress from 1953 to 1962. He went on to secure that seat in six consecutive elections from 1962 to 1989, but not all of them were as independent.

3. During the emergency in 1975-1977 under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Deve Gowda was imprisoned in Bangalore Central Jail.

4. Deve Gowda served as President of the Janata Party twice, which later merged with smaller opposition parties to become Janata Dal (Secular).

5. Deve Gowda was chosen to be the 11th Prime Minister in 1996 and stayed in office for less than a year. When the P V Narsimha Rao government lost the elections, no other parties won the majority. The United Front coalition was then formed, a mixture of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties, choosing Deve Gowda to be head of the government.

6. In 1994, Deve Gowda became the President of Janata Dal and was considered to be the driving force of the party in the Assembly elections that year. He served as the Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996.

7. Deve Gowda married Chennamma in 1954. They have six children — four sons, including politicians H D Revanna and former Karnataka CM H D Kumaraswamy, and two daughters.