Union Minister for Chemicals, Fertilizers, and Parliamentary Affairs Ananth Kumar’s friendship in the political arena went beyond the Bharatiya Janata Party’s confines. He maintained good personal relationship with leaders of the Congress and the Janata Dal (Secular) in the State and did not allowed ideological differences to affect it.
His ever-smiling attitude and approach towards fellow politicians had won him friends across the political spectrum. This had come in handy for successive dispensations in Karnataka to effectively communicate the State’s grievances before the Union government using his clout at the Centre during the NDA government’s regime under the former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the current dispensation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“After he became a Minister in Mr. Modi’s Cabinet, Mr. Ananth Kumar had helped the State in organising meetings with the Union Ministers. On several occasions, the Siddaramaiah government used his good offices to convey the State’s views to the Centre on important issues, including the Cauvery and the Mahadayi river disputes,” a senior Congress Minister said. He entertained State leaders from across the political spectrum at his office in Delhi, and acted as a link between them and bureaucrats and Union Ministers, the Minister said.
‘He was never partisan’
The former Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil recounted how Mr. Ananth Kumar intensely lobbied on behalf of the Karnataka government during the recent Cauvery turmoil. “He was never a partisan politician when it came to the State’s interests — a rare quality among politicians. He guided us and lobbied on the State’s behalf in Cauvery, Mahadayi, and Krishna river water disputes,” he said.
The former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, who came to pay his tribute on Monday, too acknowledged a similar role that Mr. Ananth Kumar had played during the Vajapayee regime.
In a tweet, Mr. Siddaramaiah acknowledged the role of Mr. Ananth Kumar in remaining the voice of Karnataka whenever the State’s issues came up at the Centre.
Besides being the face of Karnataka in national politics, especially during the BJP regime, Mr. Ananth Kumar, a seasoned strategist, was also known to anticipate crisis and nip it in the bud.
During the Cauvery crisis, when the former Prime Minister and Janata Dal (Secular) national president H.D. Deve Gowda decided to hold a dharna in front of the Gandhi statue on the Vidhana Soudha premises, it was Mr. Ananth Kumar, who cautioned his party leaders and forced Mr. Modi to intervene in the matter. This resulted in Mr. Gowda withdrawing the dharna.
While many leaders indulged in acerbic narrative during elections, Mr. Ananth Kumar did not use inappropriate language to attack his political opponents, sources said.
“During the campaign for the Assembly polls, he never attacked Mr. Siddaramaiah in a language that was inappropriate,” sources said.
Preferred translator for national leaders
Ananth Kumar was one of the few BJP leaders in south India who was proficient in Hindi, a fact that made him the preferred translator for the public speeches of the party’s national leaders. He translated public speeches of the former Prime Minister late Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Karnataka during campaigning for 2014 Lok Sabha and 2018 Assembly elections.
Capping price of coronary stents
Initially, political circles had seen Ananth Kumar being allotted the ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as a snub by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as he was seen as L.K. Advani loyalist. However, Mr. Ananth Kumar was seen as a performer — ensuring neem coating of urea and capping the price of life-saving coronary stents and knee implants. He was given the additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs in 2016.
