Anantkumar Hegde (born 20 May 1968) is an Indian politician, the former Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and the former five time Member of Parliament for

Uttara Kannada Uttara Kannada is a fifth largest district in the Indian state of Karnataka, It is bordered by the state of Goa and Belagavi districts to the north, Dharwad District and Haveri District to the east, Shivamogga District, and Udupi District to ...

constituency. Hegde is a member of the

Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...

(BJP). Hegde is a

Hindu nationalist Hindu nationalism has been collectively referred to as the expression of political thought, based on the native social and cultural traditions of the Indian subcontinent. "Hindu nationalism" is a simplistic translation of . It is better descri ...

and a

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS) volunteer.

Early life

Hegde was born to Lalita and Dattatreya Hegde in Sirsi of

district on 20 May 1968. He graduated from MM Arts & Science College in Sirsi. During college days he was member of

and later an ABVP activist. In 1998, Anant Kumar married Shrirupa Hegde and they have two children, a daughter and a son.

Career

Six-time Lok Sabha member , Hegde was first elected to the 11th

Lok Sabha The Lok Sabha, also known as the House of the People, is the lower house of Parliament of India which is Bicameralism, bicameral, where the upper house is Rajya Sabha. Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, Members of the Lok Sabha are elected by a ...

in 1996 from Uttara Kannada seat, then re-elected in 1998. He narrowly lost in the next election in 1999 to Margaret Alva of Congress. Since then, he has been re-elected four consecutive times from

Uttara Kannada (Lok Sabha constituency) Uttara Kannada (formerly known as Canara), sometimes called Karwar, is one of the 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in Karnataka state in southern India. Following the delimitation of parliamentary constituencies in 2008, the constituency was renamed ...

from 2004 to 2009 Lok Sabha to 2019–2024. He was appointed the Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet since September 2017.

Social activities

Hegde founded Kadamba group of organisations which works in the fields of multi-dimensional socioeconomic activities for the downtrodden, weaker and the vulnerable section of the society, particularly in the rural areas.

Controversies

In January 2017, he was caught on camera assaulting and hitting a doctor for the alleged mistreatment of his mother at a hospital. In 2018, speaking at a job fair and skill exhibition, he said that he will go ahead with his commitment of developing skills in the youth of India and not bother about the barking stray dogs, referring to groups protesting his earlier "change constitution" remark. In 2018, he criticised the word ''secular'' and said that BJP government would "amend the Constitution" to remove the word from the Preamble. He has claimed that

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

was originally a

Shiv The word Shiv or shiv may refer to: People with the name * Shivnarine Chanderpaul, a West Indies cricketer nicknamed Shiv Arts, entertainment, and media * Shiv, a fictional location in Magic: The Gathering, see Dominaria * Shiv, a villain in the ...

Mandir A Hindu temple, also known as Mandir, Devasthanam, Pura, or Kovil, is a sacred place where Hindus worship and show their devotion to deities through worship, sacrifice, and prayers. It is considered the house of the god to whom it is dedica ...

known as Tejo Mahalaya. After KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao questioned him over his achievements as a Union Minister, Hegde referred to Rao as "a guy who ran behind a

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

lady". In January 2019, he made a misogynistic comment against women entering the Sabarimala temple, which does not admit women, as a "daylight rape on Hindus". In March 2019, he triggered controversy by calling the Congress president,

Rahul Gandhi Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli Lok ...

, a "hybrid product that can be found only in Congress laboratory". He said Gandhi claims to be a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

"despite being born to a

father and a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

mother". In September 2019, he once again triggered a controversy by calling the former IAS officer S. Sasikanth Senthil a traitor and asking him to go to

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

. In February 2020, Hegde triggered another controversy by stating that the freedom fight led by

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

was a drama. He attacked Gandhi by questioning how such a person be called a 'Mahatma'. He again stated that the freedom movement in India was staged with the consent and support of the British.

References

External links

Members of Fifteenth Lok Sabha – Parliament of India website
* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hegde, Anantkumar Living people 1968 births India MPs 2004–2009 People from Uttara Kannada India MPs 1996–1997 India MPs 2009–2014 India MPs 1998–1999 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka India MPs 2014–2019 Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka India MPs 2019–2024 Indian male taekwondo practitioners