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The man behind Karnataka coup
A political novice, 46-year-old HD Kumaraswamy was born on December 19, 1959.
From being a political greenhorn in 1996 to a Machiavellian strategist, who orchestrated a lightning political coup, upsetting the applecart of many a political heavyweight - the journey to power for HD Kumaraswamy has been nothing short of a racy potboiler.
The political career of the 46-year-old Kumaraswamy, who was rather reluctantly initiated into politics at the behest of his mother Chennama, has been marked by three defeats and two victories at the hustings.
His maiden success came in 1996 when his father and JD(S) supremo, HD Deve Gowda, proposed his name as undivided JD(S) candidate for the Kanakapura Parliamentary constituency.
However, Kumaraswamy failed to repeat the magic in 1998 when he lost to M Chandrashekhara Murthy of the Congress. He suffered a double blow the very next year when he was routed both in the Sathanur Assembly and Kanakapura Lok Sabha polls.
Kumaraswamy's bad luck appeared to rub off on the entire Gowda clan with Deve Gowda also losing out on home turf Hassan and elder brother HD Revanna from the family's traditional Holenarsipura seat.
A strong believer in astrology, a trait inherited from his father, Kumaraswamy hit the bull's eye in 2004 when he romped home from Gowda's old "auspicious" seat - Ramangaram, which he currently represents in the assembly.
The Gowda clan then saw a change in fortunes with the family regaining the reins in Karnataka's political firmament in 2004.
