D. H. Shankaramurthy (born 30 April 1940) is a senior leader 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) in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

, India. He has been Chairman of the

Karnataka Legislative Council The Karnataka Legislative Council (formerly the Mysore Legislative Council) is the upper house of the state legislature of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of six Indian states with a bicameral legislature; the Legislative Assembly is the lower ho ...

since 2010.

Biography

Shankaramurthy was born on 30 April 1940 to a

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

speaking family of Hanumanthappa and Kamakshamma in

Shimoga Shimoga, officially Shivamogga, is a city and the district headquarters of Shimoga district in the Karnataka state of India. The city lies on the banks of the Tunga River. Being the gateway for the hilly region of the Western Ghats, the city ...

. He graduated in Science from

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by University Gra ...

. He married Sathyavati and the couple have two sons, Kiran and Arun. His younger son Arun D S is presently Member of Karnataka Legislative Council representing local bodies from Shivamogga district. Previously he was the general secretary of Shimoga District BJP and also been nominated as Chairman of Karnataka Arya Vysya Development Corporation with Minister of State rank. He is associated with the

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), a Nationalist Social Organization since 1966. Later, he joined the erstwhile

Bharatiya Jana Sangh The Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh) was a Hindutva political party active in India. It was established on 21 October 1951 in Delhi by three founding members: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Balraj Madhok and Deendayal ...

and also, served as District General Secretary and State General Secretary of the party. He is an active member of the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha and a strong votary on making

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

the sole

National Language '' '' A national language is a language (or language variant, e.g. dialect) that has some connection— de facto or de jure—with a nation. The term is applied quite differently in various contexts. One or more languages spoken as first languag ...

. He has vociferously championed for the spread and influence of

in southern India. He actively participated in "Bangla Sathyagraha" and underwent imprisonment in ‘Tihar Jail’ and a protegee of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. During the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, he was detained under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act for 19 months in the prison at

Belgaum Belgaum (Kannada ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma'', ), officially known as Belagavi (also Belgaon), is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located near its northern western border in the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters ...

. In 1980 he became the first state General Secretary of the BJP. He unsuccessfully contested the 1978 state elections and the 1980 general elections from

. He was the Chairman of the Karnataka Milk Federation in 1984 and rendered yeomen service for the promotion of Milk and other dairy products. For the first time he was elected as Member of

from the South West Graduates Constituency in 1988. Since then, he has been continuously elected for four more terms in 1994, 2000, 2006 and 2012. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council from 2002 to 2006. During this period, he discharged his responsibilities in a highly disciplined manner and upheld the prestige of the House. In February 2006, he became a Cabinet Minister in the BJP-

Janata Dal (Secular) {{Infobox Indian Political Party , party_name = Janata Dal (Secular) , party_logo = , colorcode = {{party color, Janata Dal (Secular) , abbreviation = JD(S) , president = H. D. Deve Gowda , founder ...

coalition government and handled the prestigious Higher Education portfolio. He was instrumental in approving and starting of 184 Degree Colleges and thus bringing about a radical change in the educational infrastructure in the State and also, streamlined the Higher Education department to make it competitive and effective. Following the victory of the BJP in Karnataka in May 2008, he was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the State Planning Board (an Apex Advisory body of the Government). He oversaw the creation of a document called "Karnataka Vision - 2020" which gave a new direction to the all-round development of the State. Under his guidance, the SPB was restructured with more powers and responsibilities along the lines of the

Planning Commission of India The Planning Commission was an institution in the Government of India which formulated India's Five-Year Plans, among other functions. In his first Independence Day speech in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his intention to diss ...

. He was unanimously elected as the Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council on 5 July 2010. He is hailed across party lines for his honesty, integrity and intellect and is one of the most respected leaders in the State.

References

External links

Chairman
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankaramurthy, D. H. People from Shimoga Living people State cabinet ministers of Karnataka 1940 births Chairs of the Karnataka Legislative Council Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Members of the Karnataka Legislative Council