Undivided Dakshina Kannada, which had elected just one Congress MLA from out of the 13 constituencies, got a Cabinet berth in U.T. Khader, when he was sworn in Minister in the H.D. Kumaraswamy-led Janata Dal(S)-Congress coalition government in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
A fourth-term MLA representing Mangaluru (formerly Ullal), Mr. Khader had been a Minister in the erstwhile Siddaramaiah government, initially holding Health and Family Welfare portfolio, followed by Food and Civil Supplies Ministry. Seen as being close to Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Mr. Khader had earned a name as a Minister in both the departments.
While the BJP swept the entire southern coast riding the Hindutva-Modi wave in the May 12 elections to the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Khader held on to his turf thereby providing a saving grace to the erstwhile ruling party. He defeated BJP’s Santosh Kumar Rai Boliyaru with a margin of 19,739 votes. He had won the 2013 Assembly elections with a margin of 29,111 votes.
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Mr. Khader entered the Legislative Assembly in 2007 when by-elections were held for Ullal after the death of his father and MLA U.T. Farid. Thereafter, he registered victories in successive elections in 2008, 2013 and 2018.
While Mr. Khader has the responsibility of ensuring orderly development of his constituency which is getting urbanised very fast due to its proximity to Mangaluru, the Ministerial berth has added to his responsibilities.