27 Facts About Ramakrishna Hegde

Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde was an Indian politician who served as the third Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988.

Ramakrishna Hegde served as Minister of Commerce and Industry in the Union government.

Saraswati Amma Ramakrishna Hegde, who hailed from Sirimane village near sringeri.

Ramakrishna Hegde completed a part of his studies at the Kashi Vidyapeeth in Varanasi and later obtained a degree in law from Allahabad university.

Ramakrishna Hegde became the president of the Uttara Kannada District Congress Committee from 1954 to 1957 and rose to become the general secretary of the Mysore Pradesh Congress Committee in 1958, a post he held until 1962.

Ramakrishna Hegde was first elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1957 and appointed a deputy minister.

Ramakrishna Hegde was later promoted to cabinet-minister rank, holding diverse portfolios such as Youth Welfare and Sports, Cooperation, Industries, Planning, Panchayat Raj, Development, Information and Publicity, Excise and Finance between 1962 and 1971.

Ramakrishna Hegde was Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Council for a few years until 1974.

Ramakrishna Hegde's government secured the outside support of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Left parties and 16 Independents.

Ramakrishna Hegde supported the tireless work of his Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj, Abdul Nazir Sab, in promoting devolution of power to the gram panchayats in the state, and the Karnataka implementation became a role model for the rest of India.

Ramakrishna Hegde has the rare distinction of presenting thirteen finance budgets in the state assembly.

Ramakrishna Hegde's son was accused of taking money for a medical seat.

Ramakrishna Hegde submitted resignation from Chief Minister-ship on 13 February 1986 when the Karnataka High Court censured his government for the way it handled arrack bottling contracts, but withdrew his resignation after three days on 16 February.

Ramakrishna Hegde resigned and quit office in 1988 after allegations of phone tapping of prominent politicians and businessmen in the State.

Ramakrishna Hegde then filed a case against Subramanian Swamy in 1989 and 1990 after Swamy accused him in tapping.

Ramakrishna Hegde contested Lok Sabha elections from Bagalkot in 1991 and was defeated by Congress candidate Siddu Nyamagouda.

Ramakrishna Hegde was the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India during the tenure of V P Singh.

Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from Janata Dal by its president Lalu Prasad Yadav, as per the instructions of Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda in 1996.

Ramakrishna Hegde allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party and the alliance won a majority of the Lok Sabha seats from Karnataka in the 1998 General Elections.

Ramakrishna Hegde became the Commerce minister in the BJP led NDA government in 1998.

Ramakrishna Hegde was married at a very young age to Shakuntala Amma, in a match arranged by their families in the usual Indian way.

Shakuntala Amma Ramakrishna Hegde is of very advanced age and is being cared for by her two daughters.

Ramakrishna Hegde was the romantic partner of a renowned Indian classical dancer Pratibha Prahlad who was junior to him by 36 years, from the 1980s until his death in 2004.

Ramakrishna Hegde is the biological father of her twin sons, Chirantan and Chirayu, who were born in 1998.

Ramakrishna Hegde gradually moved away from active politics owing to poor health.

Ramakrishna Hegde died in Bangalore on 12 January 2004 after prolonged illness at the age of 77.

Ramakrishna Hegde's death caused an outpouring of grief in Karnataka.