Ananth Kumar

Ananth Kumar mandated price reduction by 69% on Knee Implants- from ₹ 1.5 to 2.5 lakh to the new price of ₹ 54,500. Under his guidance, number of Jan Aushadhi Kendras increased to over 4300 all over India (as on 1 Nov 2018) from 89 in May 2014. He launched Suvidha – Bio-degradable & environment friendly sanitary pads at just ₹ 2.50 per piece from 5 June 2018, while the scheme announcement was made on 8th Mar 2018 – international women's day

On 12 November 2018 he died due to pancreatic cancer and other related complications. He is survived by his wife, Dr. Tejaswini, and his two daughters, Aishwarya and Vijeta.

On 26 May 2014, Kumar was appointed Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers in the cabinet of the current Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In the 2016 reshuffle, he was given the additional charge of Parliamentary Affairs.

Ananth Kumar became the President of the Karnataka state unit of BJP in 2003. Under his leadership of the state unit, it became the single largest party in the Legislative Assembly and won the highest number of Lok Sabha seats in 2004 in Karnataka. In 2004, he was appointed National General Secretary of the BJP.

He along with his wife, Tejaswini, founded Adamya Chetana Foundation, a nonprofit organisation for social service. It was setup in 1998 in memory of Girija Shastry, mother of Ananth Kumar. It supports underprivileged children with food in schools through the mid-day meals programme. About 2,00,000 meals are served daily.

Ananth Kumar was elected from Bengaluru South Lok Sabha constituency to the 11th Lok Sabha in 1996. He was re-elected and was inducted into the Second Vajpayee ministry. In 1999, he was re-elected to a third consecutive term and became a cabinet minister in the National Democratic Alliance government. He handled various ministries like Tourism, Sports & Youth Affairs, Culture, Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation.

Ananth Kumar was an active member of RSS' student wing, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP). He was elected as the State Secretary of the ABVP. He later became its National Secretary in 1985. In 1987, he joined BJP and was nominated as the State President of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. He was then made National Secretary of the party in 1996.

Kumar joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1973 and took part in the movement started by Jayaprakash Narayan the following year. He was jailed in the Hubli sub-jail for a period of over 40 days during the emergency.

Hegannahalli Narayana Shastry Ananth Kumar (22 July 1959 – 12 November 2018) was an Indian politician and senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party. Kumar served as the Union Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers and Parliamentary Affairs from 2014 till his death in 2018. He was a member of the Parliament for over two decades, having been elected to the Lok Sabha, the lower house, from Bengaluru South, from 1996 till his death.

Ananth Kumar was born on 22 July 1959 in Bangalore, Karnataka, into a middle-class Brahmin family. His father, H. N. Narayan Shastry, was employed with the Indian Railways. His family settled in Hubli in 1979–80. His mother Smt Girija Shastry was a social worker associated with the Bharatiya Jana Sangh. She served as the deputy mayor of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation between 1985 and 1986. Kumar completed his matriculation in Lamington School and pre-university course in science PC Jabin College in Hubli. He earned bachelor's degree in arts from Kadasiddeshwar Arts College, affiliated to the Karnatak University, and in Laws from JSS Law college, both in Hubli.