Dinesh Gundu Rao | |
|---|---|
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| Cabinet Minister,Government of Karnataka | |
| Assumed office 27 May 2023 | |
| Governor | Thawarchand Gehlot |
| Cabinet | Second Siddaramaiah ministry |
| Chief Minister | Siddaramaiah |
| Ministry and Departments | Health & Family Welfare |
| Preceded by | K.Sudhakar |
| In office 20 May 2015 – 21 June 2016 | |
| Governor | Vajubhai Vala |
| Cabinet | First Siddaramaiah ministry |
| Chief Minister | Siddaramaiah |
| Ministry and Departments |
|
| Preceded by | D. N. Jeevaraj |
| Succeeded by | U. T. Khader |
| Member ofKarnataka Legislative Assembly | |
| Assumed office 25 October 1999 | |
| Preceded by | B. Muniyappa |
| Constituency | Gandhi Nagar |
| Incharge of AICC forPuducherry andTamil Nadu | |
| In office 11 September 2020 – 24 December 2023 | |
| President | Mallikarjun Kharge |
| Succeeded by | Ajoy Kumar |
| President ofKarnataka Pradesh Congress Committee | |
| In office 4 July 2018 – 11 March 2020 | |
| Preceded by | G. Parameshwara |
| Succeeded by | D. K. Shivakumar |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1969-10-09)9 October 1969 (age 55) Kushalanagar,Mysore State, India |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Spouse | Tabassum Rao |
| Children | 2 |
| Parent | R. Gundu Rao |
| Residence(s) | Bengaluru,Karnataka |
| Alma mater | Bishop Cotton Boys' School,B.M.S. College of Engineering,B.M.S. Institute of Technology and Management |
Dinesh Gundu Rao (born 9 October 1969) is anIndian politician ofIndian National Congress fromKarnataka. He is serving as the Minister for Health and Family Welfare in the Government of Karnataka.[1] He was also the Incharge ofAll India Congress Committee of Tamil Nadu,Goa and Puducherry.[2] He was the President ofKarnataka Pradesh Congress Committee[3]He served as a Minister for Food and Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs from 2013-16 in the earlier Siddaramiah led Congress Govt.The flagship program Anna Bhagya(Hunger Free Karnataka) was successfully implemented by him.
Rao was born in aHindu family[4][5][6] in Kushal Nagar,Coorg. He is the second of the three sons of formerChief Minister of Karnataka,R. Gundu Rao.[7]
Gundu Rao attendedBishop Cotton Boys' School in Bangalore. He completed a B.E in Electronics and Communications fromB.M.S. College of Engineering in 1992.[8]
He married Tabassum Rao and has two daughters, living inBangalore, Karnataka.
Gundu Rao was the Congress candidate for Assembly Constituency (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike District) in the 1999 Karnataka Legislative Assembly Elections. The count of total votes polled for this election was 61212. Out of these, Dinesh Gundurao of Congress secured 40797 votes to win the seat, defeating the nearest rival Nagaraj V of JD (S) by a margin of 28268 votes.
He was president of the Karnataka Youth Congress, and is currently aMember of the Legislative Assembly for sixth time (MLA).[9]He is six time winner in the Karnataka elections.[10] Dinesh Gundu Rao was minister of state for food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in the government of Karnataka, and he was President of the KPCC.[11]
On 11 September 2020 he was appointedAll India Congress Committee incharge ofGoa,Puducherry &Tamil Nadu. On 4th January 2023Manickam Tagore succeeded him as AICC incharge ofGoa.
However, in the Congress the Speaker, Revenue Minister, KPCC President are all from Brahmin community. What more a party needs to do, he asked.
"It is no secret that I was born a Muslim and my husband Dinesh Gundu Rao, a Brahmin. We have been happily married for over two decades now," she said in a Facebook post.
Karnataka leaders, however, pointed that in terms of caste, Gundu Rao, a brahmin, would not bring much votes to the party.