Two-time MLA from Kalaghatagi Assembly Constituency Santosh Lad, who was forced to resign after a six-month stint as Minister following allegations of his firm being involved in illegal mining, has been inducted in to the State cabinet once more after a gap of two and a half years.
Mr. Lad had not been seen much in Kalaghatagi constituency after his resignation. Although he returned during the Parliamentary election and subsequently during the MLC and Zilla Panchayat elections, his absence has been more conspicuous than his presence in his constituency.
Born into a mining family from Sandur in Ballari district, Santosh Lad began his political career as a member of Sandur Town Panchayat in 1998. After having suffered few debacles in politics, he subsequently went on to become MLA of Sandur in 2003 on a JD(S) ticket. He then joined the Indian National Congress in 2007. As the Sandur Assembly segment was reserved for Scheduled Tribes after delimitation of the constituencies, Mr. Lad contested from Kalaghatagi Assembly Constituency on a Congress ticket and won comfortably in 2008.
Despite complaints about his ‘disappearances’, Mr. Lad managed to win with a huge margin in the 2013 elections and was inducted as a minister in the Siddaramaiah-led Congress government then.
After he stepped down just six months after his swearing in as Minister, the Kshatriya Maratha community had, on number of occasions appealed to the Chief Minister to give their community representation in the State cabinet. Now, with the re-induction of Mr. Lad, their demand has been met.
