Cabinet Reshuffle: Ananthkumar Hegde is currently the Karnataka BJP Vice President.
In the third
cabinet rejig of the NDA government after coming to power in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has picked Ananthkumar Hegde, agriculturist and parliamentarian from Karnataka, as the Minister of State in the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
A five-time Member of Parliament from Uttara Kannada Lok Sabha constituency, having entered the Parliament at the age of 28, he is currently the member of parliamentary standing committee on External Affairs and Human Resources.
Born on 20 May, 1968 at Sirsi in Uttara Kannada into a Brahmin family, Mr Hegde is also interested in the Korean martial art form, Taekwondo.
Currently, the Karnataka BJP Vice President, he is also the founder president of Kadamba, a national-level NGO working in the field of rural development, rural health, formation of self-help groups, rural marketing among others.
He has also been the member of various parliamentary committees during his successive tenure as the member of Lok Sabha.
Mr Hegde in March last year had sparked a controversy over his reported remarks allegedly linking Islam to terrorism, and is facing a case. He had allegedly
assaulted doctors at a private hospital in Sirsi in January this year, accusing them of not providing proper treatment to his mother. The CCTV images of the incident had gone viral.
Mr Hegde's pick has come as a surprise in Karnataka political circles as his name had not figured in the probables for ministerial berth from the state with a speculation that a lawmaker from the Lingayat community, BJP's strong vote base, would be inducted.
(With inputs from PTI)