Ananth Kumar, a staunch RSS man, known for political adroitness

Union minister Ananth Kumar, who died in Bengaluru on Monday, was a six-time parliamentarian who won all elections he contested since 1996 and an astute politician who is credited with crafting the BJP’s rise in Karnataka.

The minister for chemicals, fertilisers and parliamentary affairs, who died of cancer at 59, made his parliamentary debuted from the Bengaluru South constituency in 1996, when he defeated Varalkshmi Gundu Rao, the wife of the former chief minister R Gundu Rao. He won the constituency in all subsequent elections, including the latest in 2014 when he defeated the Congress candidate Nandan Nilekani.

The ‘clean image’ seemed to have helped him in his electoral battles, something his rivals also admit. ”Kumar was not a controversial figure and this helped him in the constituency, which was seen to have a large pool of undecided voters,” a senior Congress leader of south Bengaluru said.

Born in a middle class Brahmin family on July 22, 1959, in Bengaluru to Narayan Shastri, a railway employee, and Girija N Shastry, his early education began under the guidance of his mother who herself was a graduate.

An Arts graduate with a Law degree, Kumar began his political journey with the Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, a student organisation of the Sangh Pariwar, which he served in various capacities, including the state secretary and the national secretary.

He took part in several protests during the Emergency and also courted arrest. He was eventually made the national secretary of the organisation. Kumar joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in 1987, where he went on to take up the responsibilities of state secretary, state president of the Yuva Morcha, general secretary and national secretary.

In 1998, he became the youngest minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s cabinet. He served as the Civil Aviation minister, also minister for tourism, sports, youth affairs and culture, urban development and poverty alleviation.