A hardworking politician, it is said if Revanna recommends a file, Kumaraswamy signs it without question. He also serves as the Deve Gowda family’s astrologer.
Bengaluru: Haradanahalli Devegowda Revanna, the elder son of the former prime minister H.D. Deve Gowda, has always aspired to become chief minister of Karnataka. But his dream remains unfulfilled, and people close to Revanna say it will continue to remain unfulfilled as long as his brother H.D. Kumaraswamy is in politics.
Revanna, though, is a ‘Super CM’.
He has earned this moniker through Kumaraswamy’s first term as chief minister (2006-07) and now in his second term as well for Revanna enjoys a role of extreme power in the state administration. This power stems not just out of fear, but also the respect he commands among the bureaucracy for his blunt approach and swift administrative action.
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For example, he recently transferred 700 officials in one day from the PWD — the department he heads as minister — much to the chagrin of the opposition.
There’s another reason for the ‘Super CM’ moniker — it is believed that if any files need approval from Kumaraswamy, the only person who can persuade him is Revanna. And such is the respect — some even call it fear — that once big brother asks, Kumaraswamy doesn’t think twice.
However, there is a difference between Revanna’s clout in 2006-07 and now, and it can be attributed to the political tightrope that the Janata Dal (Secular) and Kumarswamy are walking. One wrong decision could not just result in the fall of this Congress-backed government, but also could be the end of the road for the JD(S) as a serious political player.
Revanna the politician
Like his father, Revanna the politician has grown from the grassroots. He worked as a district panchayat member in the family’s home district of Hassan, and grew powerful after Deve Gowda became prime minister. He won the Holenarasipura assembly seat in 1994, and was made the housing minister in the J.H. Patel-led government.
Revanna contested from the same seat unsuccessfully in 1999, but was re-elected in 2004. In the Congress-JD(S) coalition government under the leadership of Dharam Singh, Revanna became a minister again, serving in the PWD (Public Works Department) and Energy department. In this year’s assembly elections, Revanna won the Holenarasipura seat again and is presently the PWD minister.
He has a strong hold over the milk unions in his district. He was also the president of Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF) for 13 years and ensured several reforms. KMF’s milk brand Nandini is known for its quality and competes with the top two Indian players Amul and Mother Dairy in Karnataka. As head of this cooperative movement, Revanna is said to have earned the respect and trust of the farmers.
“Revanna is a very emotional and down-to-earth leader. He is powerful, not corrupt. Several allegations of corruption have been levelled against him, but they are all false,” said a party leader who did not wish to be identified.
“All he wants to ensure is that Hassan as a constituency prospers, and he would do anything for his district. There is corruption among the lower rung officials and contractors, but Revanna does not take a single rupee.”
Persuasive and stubborn
Revanna is famous for being a dutiful, obedient son — it is said that if Deve Gowda asks him to not cross the Lakshman Rekha, he never will.
He is also known to be a person of persuasive and stubborn character. Deve Gowda, in fact, says Revanna is so dedicated to his work that he would go to any lengths to ensure the job is done.
An example of this came in 1999, when the entire family lost in the assembly elections, which were held concurrently with the Lok Sabha polls. Kumaraswamy suffered a crushing defeat in Sathanur, while Deve Gowda, a little more than two years removed from the prime ministership, lost his pet Lok Sabha seat of Hassan to G. Puttaswamy Gowda of the Congress.
Revanna, who also lost the polls, had begun actively working with the milk unions in Hassan by this time.
On one occasion, there was a union protest in Hassan, and Revanna wanted his father to issue a statement from the party condemning the protest. He drove to Bangalore, and arrived at a time when senior journalists were meeting the former PM.
Sheepishly, Revanna passed the press note to his father along with a few newspapers. Deve Gowda took one look at it, crumpled it and threw it at Revanna. But Revanna picked it up, smoothed it out, and sent it back in a few minutes later. Again, Deve Gowda crumpled and threw it. A cool and composed Revanna sent the note for the third time. An exasperated Deve Gowda took a pen, signed it and dismissed him.
When the journalists asked Revanna what the issue was, he smiled and said he wanted a press note to be released on the former prime minister’s letterhead, cautioning the milk unions in Hassan. Revanna felt it would be more effective if it came from the former PM.
But Deve Gowda was embarrassed — for a leader of his stature, he felt his son was forcing his hand to deal with an ultra-local issue. But Revanna nevertheless got the job done.
Revanna is also known to be vindictive if a person crosses his path. Revanna, for instance, is believed to have ensured that Arakalgud MLA, A.T. Ramaswamy, did not win because he felt threatened by him.
The family astrologer
Revanna is also the family astrologer, who ensures that decisions are taken when the ‘time’ is right. Deve Gowda is extremely superstitious, but Revanna takes it a notch higher. Every morning, Revanna conducts a round of pujas across temples and brings prasad home to his father.
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The time and date of Kumaraswamy’s swearing-in ceremony as CM was decided by Revanna. Even political moves such as cabinet formation and expansion decisions are taken based on the predictions of astrologers that Revanna consults.
Recently, at a ground-breaking ceremony that Revanna was attending, he was seen on camera advising the priest how to go about the rituals.
A much-discussed example of Revanna’s blind faith in superstitions was when he drove the round-trip distance of 350 km each day between the family’s hometown Hassan and Bengaluru for weeks on end. He found that the government-provided accommodation was not Vaastu compliant, so until alterations were made, he continued to traverse this distance every day.
But that may not seem much of a distance for someone who has come a long way in politics despite living under the shadow of his father and brother.