Jayadevappa Halappa Patel (

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 ...

: ಜಯದೇವಪ್ಪ ಹಾಲಪ್ಪ ಪಟೇಲ್; 1 October 1930 – 12 December 2000) was the 9th Chief Minister of the Indian state of Karnataka from 31 May 1996 to 7 October 1999.

Biography

J.H. Patel was born on 1 October 1930 in Kariganur, now in

Davanagere district Davanagere district is an administrative district of Karnataka state in India. It is the centre of Karnataka. The city of Davanagere is the district headquarters. It had a population of 1,643,494 of which 32.31% was urban as of 2011. This dis ...

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. A Graduate in Law, he married Sarvamangala and had three sons Trishul, Satish and Mahima. J.H. Patel participated in the freedom struggle in 1942 and was imprisoned. A staunch socialist and an ardent follower of

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ( 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of the Indian independence movement and a socialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest against colonialism, raising awareness of th ...

, as a youth, he was inspired by

Shantaveri Gopala Gowda Shantaveri Gopala Gowda (14 March 1923 – 9 June 1972) was an Indian socialist politician who was thrice elected to the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka, in 1952, 1962 and 1967. He is considered one of India's most important socialist leaders ...

. Patel's oratory skills left his mark on many. He remained a non-Congress leader throughout his life and was one of the pillars of

Janata Dal Janata Dal () was an List of political parties in India, Indian political party which was formed through the merger of Lok Dal, Indian National Congress (Jagjivan), and the Jan Morcha on 11 October 1988—the birth anniversary of Jayaprakash Na ...

in Karnataka. He belonged to banajiga sub-sect of Lingayat community.

Political career

He was elected to

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 ...

from

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 ...

constituency in 1967, and was the first Kannadiga to table his debates in

. Patel created history in Lok Sabha in 1967 when he spoke in his mother tongue

in the house. The then Speaker of the Lok Sabha,

Neelam Sanjiva Reddy Neelam Sanjiva Reddy (19 May 1913 – 1 June 1996) was an Indian politician who served as the president of India, serving from 1977 to 1982. Beginning a long political career with the Indian National Congress Party in the independence movem ...

allowed and encouraged Patel to go ahead with his speech. The house heard him with rapt attention. The Indian parliament had been active for 17 years and Patel became the first member to speak in a regional Indian language. He did so in vindication of the eighth schedule of the Indian constitution in which all the great languages of India have been given a pride of Place. This prompted the Speaker of Lok Sabha, Sanjiva Reddy to decree in his famous ruling that henceforth any member of the Lok Sabha who is inclined to exercise his/her inherent right to speak in his/her mother tongue would do so without any hindrance. Patel was imprisoned 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 ...

from 1975 to 1977. Later, he was elected to the

Karnataka Legislative Assembly The Karnataka Legislative Assembly (formerly the Mysore Legislative Assembly) is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the southern Indian state of Karnataka. Karnataka is one of the six states in India where the state legislature ...

from

Channagiri Channagiri is a town in Davanagere district in the state of Karnataka, India. It is a taluk headquarters in Davanagere District from 1997. Before it was the part of Shivamogga District. Etymology During Ganga Possession in this place called '' ...

constituency in 1978. He was elected for the second term in 1983, and served as a cabinet minister in the

Janata Party The Janata Party (JP, ) is an unrecognised political party in India. Navneet Chaturvedi is the current president of the party since November 2021, replacing Jaiprakash Bandhu. The JP was established as an amalgam of Indian political partie ...

government headed by

Ramakrishna Hegde Ramakrishna Mahabaleshwar Hegde (29 August 1926 – 12 January 2004) was an Indian politician who served as the third Chief Minister of Karnataka for three terms between 1983 and 1988. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1 ...

. Patel also served as a minister in S R Bommai's government, and became the Deputy Chief Minister in 1994 when the

returned to power under the leadership of H. D. Deve Gowda. He succeeded Gowda in 1996 following the latter's elevation to the post of

Prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

. He was the first Chief minister of Karnataka who was never a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

. The most significant achievement of Patel's government was the formation of seven new districts in the State which was a long-delayed decision. His administration also gave impetus to Information Technology and attracted foreign investment. His government was also known for investing Rs. 4,800 crores on irrigation projects such as Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, modernisation of Visvesvaraya Canal, work on Varuna Canal and near completion of the Alamatti Dam across the

Krishna River The Krishna River in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau is the third-longest in India, after the Ganga, Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganga, Indus and Godav ...

. Patel witnessed turbulent days as Chief minister following the expulsion of his mentor

from the party and the split in the Janata Dal into the

Janata Dal (United) Janata Dal (United) ("People's Party (United)"), abbreviated as JD(U), is a Social democracy, social-democratic and secular List of political parties in India, Indian political party, rooted mainly in East India, eastern and Northeast India, ...

in which he remained; and the

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 ...

, led by Deve Gowda. His political acumen came to fore when he deftly handled stiff dissidence from fellow partymen throughout his tenure. When party affairs took a turn for the worse, Patel stunned every one including his detractors by recommending dissolution of the state assembly, six months ahead of the assembly polls in 1999. He merged his faction with Hegde's

Lok Shakti Lok Shakti ( lit. People's Power) was a political party in India. Lok Shakti was one of several parties that were formed when the Janata Dal crumbled in the mid-1990s. LS was formed in February 1997 after Ramakrishna Hegde was expelled from ...

and entered into an alliance with 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 ...

. In his last election, a young candidate Vadnal Rajanna defeated him and his party also suffered a massive defeat. Patel died at the Manipal Hospital, Bangalore on 12 December 2000. He was buried with State honours at his native village, Kariganur. During his last days, Patel had been making efforts for the merger of the two Janata Dal factions. He was a great orator, a witty leader, an astute politician and an acclaimed parliamentarian. A nonchalant leader, Patel endeared himself to his political adversaries by his affectionate and friendly attitude. A deft handler of any situation, Patel had the capability to withstand criticism and was endowed with abundant patience to dismiss them cheerfully.

References

*http://www.kla.kar.nic.in/assembly/elib/pdf/eresources/J%20H%20Patel.pdf

External links

Official biographical sketch in Parliament of India website
, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Patel, Jayadevappa Halappa 1930 births 2000 deaths Chief ministers of Karnataka Deputy chief ministers of Karnataka People from Shimoga district People from Davanagere district India MPs 1967–1970 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Indian people imprisoned during the Emergency (India) 20th-century Indian lawyers Chief ministers from Janata Dal Samyukta Socialist Party politicians Janata Dal politicians Janata Party politicians Janata Dal (United) politicians Lok Shakti politicians