DK Shivakumar is one of the most well-known Congress faces in Karnataka. (File)
DK Shivakumar is one of the most well-known Congress faces in Karnataka. The Congress state chief is a troubleshooter and was crucial to the party forming the government with Janata Dal (Secular), or JD(S), after the 2018 assembly election.
A prominent leader from the Vokkaliga community, Mr Shivakumar rose to prominence when he contested against HD Deve Gowda from Sathanur seat in the 1985 assembly polls. Though he lost the election, DKS, as he is popularly known, emerged as a strong leader in Karnataka. He was a protege of former Chief Minister SM Krishna, who was also from the Vokkaliga community.
Here are five points about the Congress leader:
- Mr Shivakumar is a seven-time MLA. In 1985, he contested from Sathanur seat on a Congress ticket but lost to former Mr Gowda. Mr Shivakumar then won from the constituency for the first time in 1989. In 2008, he won the Kanakapura seat and retained it in 2013 and 2018.
- He has held various portfolios as a minister. He has served as Karnataka's energy minister and the minister of irrigation in previous governments.
- Mr Shivakumar took on Mr Gowda's son HD Kumaraswamy in the 1999 Karnataka polls and defeated him by over 14,000 votes.
- In 2020, Mr Shivakumar was appointed president of the Karnataka Congress.
- His brother, DK Suresh, is a Congress MP from Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency.