BENGALURU: If party veterans BS Yediyurappa and KS Eshwarappa were the Lingayat and Kuruba faces of BJP, a much younger R Ashoka consciously built his career as the party’s Vokkaliga leader.
Though he may not stand tall when compared to other community leaders of rival parties — DK Shivakumar of Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) — his contribution to the party can by no means be ignored.
Ashoka, an RSS worker in his youth and a science graduate, was among those jailed in Bengaluru during the Emergency, along with veterans, including LK Advani.
The 66-year-old, who is junior to many party old hands, rose swiftly in the ranks, thanks to the unflinching support of Yediyurappa. His appointment as opposition leader of the state legislative assembly on Friday came as no surprise, with Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra recently taking over as state BJP president.
Ashoka, who is widely known as ‘Samrat’ in political circles, entered the assembly for the first time after winning the byelections held in 1997 from the Uttarahalli assembly constituency, the largest in India with around 16 lakh voters. He also contested from the same constituency thrice and won with the highest margin among Karnataka’s 224 assembly constituencies.
After delimitation, he chose Padmanabhanagar in South Bengaluru, a large part of which falls in erstwhile Uttarahalli. In the elections that followed in 1999 and 2004 too, he won with impressive margins. In 2006, when the JD(S) and BJP came together to form the coalition government, Ashoka became minister for health and family welfare.
When BJP formed its first full-fledged government in Karnataka under Yediyurappa in 2008, Ashoka automatically made it to the state cabinet, again bagging the health portfolio.
When Jagadish Shettar took over as chief minister in June 2012 after Yediyurappa resigned over charges of corruption in an illegal mining scam, Ashoka, who had rallied behind the sulking former CM, was appointed as one of the two deputy chief ministers and entrusted with the home and transport ministries, surpassing many party seniors.
In the recent assembly polls, Ashoka, who was revenue minister in the previous Bommai-led government, contested from Kanakapura against DK Shivakumar. But it turned out to be a lopsided contest as the KPCC chief trounced him by a margin of about 1.2 lakh votes. However, Ashoka retained the Padmanabhanagar assembly seat from where he had won convincingly in previous years.
That he comes from old Mysuru region — he was born in Bengaluru in 1957 — places him in a better position among Vokkaligas such as DV Sadananda Gowda and Shobha Karandlaje, who hail from coastal Karnataka. Ashoka’s influence, however, is largely restricted to Bengaluru, as he led the party to historic victories in the 2010 and 2015 BBMP elections.
A student of Vishweshwarapuram College in the city, he was once a kabaddi champion.
Though he may not stand tall when compared to other community leaders of rival parties — DK Shivakumar of Congress and HD Kumaraswamy of JD(S) — his contribution to the party can by no means be ignored.
Ashoka, an RSS worker in his youth and a science graduate, was among those jailed in Bengaluru during the Emergency, along with veterans, including LK Advani.
The 66-year-old, who is junior to many party old hands, rose swiftly in the ranks, thanks to the unflinching support of Yediyurappa. His appointment as opposition leader of the state legislative assembly on Friday came as no surprise, with Yediyurappa’s son BY Vijayendra recently taking over as state BJP president.
Ashoka, who is widely known as ‘Samrat’ in political circles, entered the assembly for the first time after winning the byelections held in 1997 from the Uttarahalli assembly constituency, the largest in India with around 16 lakh voters. He also contested from the same constituency thrice and won with the highest margin among Karnataka’s 224 assembly constituencies.
After delimitation, he chose Padmanabhanagar in South Bengaluru, a large part of which falls in erstwhile Uttarahalli. In the elections that followed in 1999 and 2004 too, he won with impressive margins. In 2006, when the JD(S) and BJP came together to form the coalition government, Ashoka became minister for health and family welfare.
When BJP formed its first full-fledged government in Karnataka under Yediyurappa in 2008, Ashoka automatically made it to the state cabinet, again bagging the health portfolio.
When Jagadish Shettar took over as chief minister in June 2012 after Yediyurappa resigned over charges of corruption in an illegal mining scam, Ashoka, who had rallied behind the sulking former CM, was appointed as one of the two deputy chief ministers and entrusted with the home and transport ministries, surpassing many party seniors.
In the recent assembly polls, Ashoka, who was revenue minister in the previous Bommai-led government, contested from Kanakapura against DK Shivakumar. But it turned out to be a lopsided contest as the KPCC chief trounced him by a margin of about 1.2 lakh votes. However, Ashoka retained the Padmanabhanagar assembly seat from where he had won convincingly in previous years.
That he comes from old Mysuru region — he was born in Bengaluru in 1957 — places him in a better position among Vokkaligas such as DV Sadananda Gowda and Shobha Karandlaje, who hail from coastal Karnataka. Ashoka’s influence, however, is largely restricted to Bengaluru, as he led the party to historic victories in the 2010 and 2015 BBMP elections.
A student of Vishweshwarapuram College in the city, he was once a kabaddi champion.
