Rahim Khan, son of a daily wage labourer for the erstwhile Karnataka Electricity Board, has entered the State Assembly for the second time from Bidar.
Mr. Khan went to Kalaburagi looking for a job after he completed his PU course, and served in Bande Nawaz Dargah there for some time. He developed contacts with some leaders and founded a nursing college along with his brothers in Bidar.
He went on to build an educational empire that has 15 colleges in education, nursing, and other vocational courses in Bidar, Kalaburagi and Bengaluru.
Childhood days
He frequently speaks of his childhood days when the family had to fight poverty. In speeches, he recalls how his father dug pits to erect electricity poles and how his mother who had to walk over a mile to fetch a pot of water from the public tap. “I have not forgotten those days. That is why I feel compelled to help the poor,” he says.
“I cannot take any credit for the result. People of this city believe in the Ganga-Jamuni Tehzeeb (culture of harmony). They have strengthened my belief that religion and caste-based approaches don’t work in public life,” he said.
“People of the constituency are large hearted and grateful. Thoda paani kya de diya, mujhe Bengaluru bhej diye, (I gave them some water and they sent me to Bengaluru). I will die serving them,” he said.
His Roohi Group of Institutions has been providing drinking water through tankers for free since 2013.
Acceptability
His image of a simpleton who is not known to be involved in communal politics has helped him, says N. Dharam Singh, former MP.
He said that the people of Bidar had taught a lesson to BJP leaders who were saying that Congress leaders had betrayed Hyderabad Karnataka.
Eshwar Khandre, Congress MLA, said Mr. Khan had a wider acceptability.
His Roohi Group of Institutions has been providing drinking water to villages
