Ramaiah Ashoka (born 1 July 1957) is an Indian politician who served as the 6th

Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka The deputy chief minister of Karnataka is a member of the Cabinet in the Government of Karnataka. Not technically a Constitution of India, constitutional office, it seldom carries any specific powers. A deputy Chief minister usually also holds ...

. Serving as Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly since 2023, he previously served as the Deputy Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembly (2014 -2018), Minister of Revenue,

Minister of Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

and

Minister of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

under the BJP government. He has also served as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare under the coalition government of BJP and JDS. He is a Seven-time MLA for Padmanabhanagar Assembly Constituency (before delimitation of the Uttarahalli assembly constituency).

Early political career

During

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 arrested and detained in prison along with veteran leaders like L.K. Advani at the Central Jail in Bengaluru. He was first 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 ...

in the 1997 by-Elections from

Uttarahalli Uttarahalli is a southern suburb of Bangalore in the Indian state of Karnataka Demographics India census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population infor ...

, which was the biggest state legislature constituency in India before delimitation. He was re-elected from the same constituency in 1999 and 2004 Assembly elections with impressive margins. In the 2004 elections, he won by a margin of 84,001 votes which is the highest in any Karnataka Assembly election.

Positions held

In 2008, he became the Minister of Health and family welfare in 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 ...

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 ...

(BJP-JD(S)) coalition government. As a minister, he implemented novel schemes and also streamlined the administration of the department. As Minister of Transport in the

Yeddyurappa Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa (born 27 February 1943), often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he has served as the chief minister of Karnataka for four terms, an ...

Government from 2008 onwards, he was instrumental in modernizing the department and also using innovative hi-tech methods to automate the working of the department. When

Jagadish Shettar Jagadish Shivappa Shettar (born 17 December 1955) is an Indian politician, who served as the 15th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 2012 to 2013. He is currently serving as Member of parliament representing Belgavi constituency.He has subsequent ...

became Chief Minister in June 2012, Ashoka was appointed one of the two Deputy chief ministers and entrusted with the ministries of Home and Transport in the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as GoK or GoKA, formerly known as Government of Mysore (1956–1974), is a democratically elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka ...

. Ashoka is regarded as one of the most influential leaders of the BJP in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

city and has steered the party to historic victories in the 2010 and 2015

BBMP Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) was the administrative body responsible for civic amenities and some infrastructural assets of the Greater Bengaluru metropolitan area. It was the fourth largest Municipal Corporation in India and ...

elections. On 26 August 2019, Ashoka was appointed the Revenue Minister in Karnataka government excluding Muzrai.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ashok, R. 1957 births Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Karnataka Karnataka MLAs 1994–1999 Karnataka MLAs 1999–2004 Karnataka MLAs 2004–2007 Karnataka MLAs 2008–2013 Karnataka MLAs 2013–2018 Karnataka MLAs 2023–2028 State cabinet ministers of Karnataka Deputy chief ministers of Karnataka Living people Karnataka MLAs 2018–2023