H. D. Deve Gowda | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 1996 | |
| Prime Minister of India | |
| In office 1 June 1996 – 21 April 1997 | |
| President | Shankar Dayal Sharma |
| Vice President | K. R. Narayanan |
| Preceded by | Atal Bihari Vajpayee |
| Succeeded by | Inder Kumar Gujral |
| Union Minister of Home Affairs | |
| In office 1 June 1996 – 28 June 1996 | |
| Prime Minister | Himself |
| Preceded by | Murli Manohar Joshi |
| Succeeded by | Indrajit Gupta |
| Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha | |
| Assumed office 26 June 2020 | |
| Preceded by | D. Kupendra Reddy |
| Constituency | Karnataka |
| In office 23 September 1996 – 2 March 1998 | |
| Preceded by | Leeladevi Renuka Prasad |
| Succeeded by | A. Lakshmisagar |
| Constituency | Karnataka |
| Member of Parliament,Lok Sabha | |
| In office 17 May 2004 – 23 May 2019 | |
| Preceded by | G. Puttaswamy Gowda |
| Succeeded by | Prajwal Revanna |
| Constituency | Hassan, Karnataka |
| In office 2 February 2002 – 16 May 2004 | |
| Preceded by | M. V. Chandrashekara Murthy |
| Succeeded by | Tejashwini Sreeramesh |
| Constituency | Kanakapura, Karnataka |
| In office 10 March 1998 – 26 April 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Rudresh Gowda |
| Succeeded by | G. Puttaswamy Gowda |
| Constituency | Hassan, Karnataka |
| In office 20 June 1991 – 11 December 1994 | |
| Preceded by | H. C. Srikantaiah |
| Succeeded by | Rudresh Gowda |
| Constituency | Hassan, Karnataka |
| Chief Minister of Karnataka | |
| In office 11 December 1994 – 31 May 1996 | |
| Governor | Khurshed Alam Khan |
| Preceded by | Veerappa Moily |
| Succeeded by | Jayadevappa Halappa Patel (who also deputy under him) |
| Member ofKarnataka Legislative Assembly | |
| In office 1994 (1994) – 1996 (1996) | |
| Preceded by | CM Lingappa |
| Succeeded by | CM Lingappa |
| Constituency | Ramanagara |
| In office 1962 (1962) – 1989 (1989) | |
| Preceded by | Y. Veerappa |
| Succeeded by | G. Puttaswamy Gowda |
| Constituency | Holenarasipur |
| President ofJanata Dal (Secular) | |
| Assumed office July 1999 | |
| Preceded by | Office established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (1933-05-18)18 May 1933 (age 92) |
| Party | Janata Dal (Secular) (1999–present) |
| Other political affiliations |
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| Spouse | |
| Children | 6 (includingH. D. Revanna andH. D. Kumaraswamy) |
| Residence | |
| Education | Diploma in Civil Engineering |
| Alma mater | L. V. Polytechnic,Hassan |
| Profession |
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| Signature |  |
| Website | hddevegowda |
| Nicknames |
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Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (pronunciationⓘ; born 18 May 1933)[2] is an Indian politician who served as theprime minister of India for nearly 11 months, from 1996 to 1997.[3][4] He previously served as thechief minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996 and as aMember of Parliament (MP) in theLok Sabha. A member of theJanata Dal (Secular), he has been serving as the party's president since 1999 and has been an MP in theRajya Sabha representingKarnataka since 2020.[5]
Born in a family of farmers, Deve Gowda joined theIndian National Congress (INC) in 1953 and remained a member until 1962. He became president of the state unit of theJanata Dal in 1994 and was considered to be a driving force in the party'svictory inKarnataka. He served as thechief minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996. In the1996 general elections, no party won enough seats to form a government and Deve Gowda was elected to serve as prime minister as head of theUnited Front coalition.[6][7] His premiership lasted for less than a year and he left office in April 1997. After his prime ministerial tenure, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha as a Member of Parliament until his defeats in 1999 and 2019.[8] Deve Gowda waselected to theRajya Sabha in 2020. He didn't contest the 2024 lok sabha polls.
Following the death of former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh in 2025, Gowda is the only living former Prime Minister of India.
H. D. Deve Gowda was born on 18 May 1933 inHaradanahalli, a village inHolenarasipuraTaluk, of the erstwhileKingdom of Mysore (now inHassan,Karnataka). His father Dodde Gowda was apaddy farmer and mother, Devamma was a home maker. He is from the dominant Vokkaliga community who consider him as their community leader.[9][10]
Gowda earned a diploma incivil engineering from L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan, in the early 1950s.[11]
Deve Gowda joined theIndian National Congress party in 1953 and remained a member until 1962. During that period, he was President of Anjaneya Cooperative Society of Holenarasipura and later became a member of the Taluk Development Board of Holenarasipura.
In 1962, Deve Gowda was elected to theKarnataka Legislative Assembly from Holenarasipura constituency as anindependent candidate. Later, he was elected from the same constituency to the Assembly for six consecutive terms from 1962 to 1989. He joined theCongress (O) during the Congress split. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Assembly from March 1972 to March 1976 and from November 1976 to December 1977.[12] During theEmergency in the 1970s, he was imprisoned in the Bangalore Central Jail.
Later, Deve Gowda served as the two-time president of the state unit of theJanata Party. He served as a minister in the Janata Party Government in Karnataka headed byRamakrishna Hegde from 1983 to 1988. WhenV.P. Singh joined Janata Dal,Subramanian Swamy formed Janata Party (Jaya Prakash) faction, and Deve Gowda joined him to become Janata Party (JP)'s Karnataka President. He was later defeated from Holenarasipur in 1989, and soon later rejoinedJanata Dal.[13] He became president of the state unit of theJanata Dal in 1994 and led the party to victory in the1994 State Assembly elections. He was elected from the Ramanagara, and sworn in as the 14thChief Minister of Karnataka in December.
As chief minister, Gowda touredSwitzerland and attended the Forum of International Economists. His tour toSingapore brought in foreign investment to the State.[2] He resigned from the position to serve as prime minister following his appointment in 1996.
Following the1996 general elections,P. V. Narasimha Rao government was defeated with no other party winning enough seats to form a government.
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When theUnited Front (a conglomeration of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties) decided to form the Government at the Centre with the support of the Congress and CPI(M), Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government afterV. P. Singh andJyoti Basu declined.[14][15] He was sworn-in as the11thPrime Minister of India in June 1996 and was elected to theRajya Sabha in September 1996 during his tenure as prime minister after Indira Gandhi's tenture in Rajya Sabha.[5] During his tenure, he served as theHome Minister and as the Chairman of the Steering Committee of the United Front, the policy-making committee consisting of other coalition party leaders.[5] He is credited with providing financial closure and kickstarting development of theDelhi Metro Project.[16] He left office on 21 April 1997[17] after the Congress revoked its support for Gowda amidst discontent over communication between the coalition and the Congress. It compromised to support a new government underI. K. Gujral, who served as the prime minister from 21 April 1997 to 19 March 1998.
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He was defeated in the1999 general elections by INC's G. Putta Swamy Gowda.[18] He was elected president of theJanata Dal (Secular) the same year. Subsequently, he won by-poll in 2002 against D. K. Shivakumar.
The2004 Karnataka state elections witnessed the revival of his party's fortunes under the leadership ofSiddaramaiah with theJanata Dal (Secular) winning 58 seats and becoming a part of the ruling coalition in the state. Later, the party joined with the BJP and formed another government in 2006. Deve Gowda's son,H. D. Kumaraswamy, headed the BJP-JD(S) coalition government in the state for 20 months.[19][20] The alliance was defeated in2008.B. S. Yediyurappa was elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.[21] Deve Gowda verbally abused Yediyurappa.[22][23] This event was termed as a "new low in Indian politics".[24] Deve Gowda later apologised for hurling abuse at him.[25]
Deve Gowda expelledSiddaramaiah from the JD(S) in 2005.[26][27][28][29] Later, Siddaramaiah joined the Indian National Congress,[30] which won the2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election, with Siddaramaiah being elected as the Chief Minister of Karnataka.[31] In 2018, Gowda played vital role with Sonia Gandhi to form INC-JDS combine rule.[32] But, they later disowned alliance in 2019 after his son Kumaraswamy lost his chief ministerial seat for 2nd time.
Deve Gowda contested the2019 general elections againstG. S. Basavaraj inTumkur Lok Sabha constituency ofKarnataka.G. S. Basavaraj, BJP candidate of Tumkur Constituency won against Deve Gowda by a margin of 13,339 votes.G. S. Basavaraj polled 596,127 votes while Deve Gowda got 582,788 votes.[33] He has been elected to Rajya Sabha.[34] His grandson Prajwell only managed to win in his previous constituency.
He married Chennamma in 1954. They have six children together: four sons, including politiciansH. D. Revanna who is PWD minister andH. D. Kumaraswamy, who is a formerChief Minister of Karnataka and current Union Minister, and two daughters.[35] He is the father-in-law of politicianAnitha Kumaraswamy and grandfather of politician-actorNikhil Kumaraswamy, politiciansPrajwal Revanna andSuraj Revanna.
In 2025, Gowda was hospitalised inBengaluru after he developedurinary tract infection.[36]
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | Votes | Opposition Candidate | Opposition Party | Opposition votes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1962 | Holenarasipur | IND | Won | 12,622 | H. D. Doddegowda | INC | 7,338 | [37] |
| 1967 | Holenarasipur | IND | Won | 20,594 | H. D. Doddegowda | INC | 12,191 | [37] |
| 1972 | Holenarasipur | INC(O) | Won | 26,639 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 20,475 | [37] |
| 1978 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 33,992 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 28,472 | [37] |
| 1983 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 37,239 | K. Kumaraswamy | INC | 28,158 | [37] |
| 1985 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Won | 41,230 | G. Puttaswamy Gowda | IND | 38,063 | [37] |
| 1985 | Sathanur | JNP | Won | 45,612 | D. K. Shivakumar | INC | 29,809 | [38] |
| 1989 | Holenarasipur | JNP | Lost | 45,461 | G. Puttaswamy Gowda | INC | 53,297 | [37] |
| 1994 | Ramanagara | JD | Won | 47,986 | C. M. Lingappa | INC | 38,392 | [39] |
| Year | Constituency | Party | Result | Votes | Opposition Candidate | Opposition Party | Opposition votes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Hassan | JNP | Won | 2,60,761 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 2,57,570 | [40] |
| 1998 | Hassan | JD | Won | 3,36,407 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 3,04,753 | [40] |
| 1999 | Hassan | JD(S) | Lost | 2,56,587 | G. Putta Swamy Gowda | INC | 3,98,344 | [40] |
| 2002 (bypoll) | Kanakapura | JD(S) | Won | 5,81,709 | D. K. Shivakumar | INC | 5,29,133 | [41] |
| 2004 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 4,62,625 | H. C. Srikantaiah | INC | 2,72,320 | [40] |
| 2004 | Kanakapura | JD(S) | Lost | 4,62,320 | Tejashwini Sreeramesh | INC | 2,72,320 | [42] |
| 2009 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 4,96,429 | K. H. Hanume Gowda | BJP | 2,05,316 | [40] |
| 2014 | Hassan | JD(S) | Won | 5,09,841 | A. Manju | INC | 4,09,379 | [40] |
| 2019 | Tumkur | JD(S) | Lost | 5,82,788 | G. S. Basavaraj | BJP | 5,96,127 | [43] |
Gowda became the 12th Prime Minister in June 1996.
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| Preceded by | Prime Minister of India 1996–1997 | Succeeded by |
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| Preceded by | Leader of theJanata Dal (Secular) Party in the16th Lok Sabha 2014–present | Incumbent |
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