During all the drama in Karnataka politics with the ruling coalition failing to win the vote of trust in the floor test, one person who played a key role in all the activity was the Speaker Ramesh Kumar. The famous TV actor and socialist was at the center of all political crisis and tried his best to give the ruling party adequate time to save the government.
Well Known Legislator Who Played Roles In Multiple Legal Dramas
Ramesh Kumar is a seasoned legislator who has decades of political experience as a Speaker of the House. As an actor, he played roles in multiple legal dramas that were aired on TV in the early years of the 2000s. These roles made him instantly famous and a household name which paved way for his entry into politics.
He served as a Speaker of Karnataka’s Vidhan Soudha in 1994 when the current Janata Dal-Secular supremo HD Deve Gowda was chief minister of Karnataka. In his second term, he became the speaker when Deve Gowda’s son HD Kumaraswamy became the chief minister 14 months ago. This time along his role as a speaker was a lot crucial as the two leading parties BJP and Congress were caught in an epic battle with the ruling coalition government trying hard to stay in power.
When the rebel MLAs disappeared and the drama started, there were talks of Rs.1,000 crore packages and mysterious flights. Amidst all these controversies all eyes were strained on Ramesh Kumar. It was a difficult time for him as he had to obey the Supreme Court and also keep the intervention of the Governor of Karnataka at bay.
Ramesh Kumar at that time said, “The person with the ability to force me to do anything, has not taken birth on this earth yet.”
Ups And Down As Politician, Socialist, And Actor
Starting as an Independent candidate in 1978 he diverted towards Congress party in his early days. Later on, his focus shifted to the Sangh Parivar in 1985 but returned to Congress in 2004. It was during 1999 when he lost to his rival GV Venkatashiva in Assembly polls that he entered into the field of acting.
Over the years, he became famous as a political satirist. Former co-actor of Ramesh Kumar, Malavika Avinash says, “Ramesh Kumar has this unique trait of being a political satirist. Even when I hear his speeches now, you can make out a cynical, witty side to him.”
Malavika who now is a BJP spokesperson says, “It’s a little strange now that we are on opposite sides of the political spectrum. When I met him, he was a former speaker and going through a political lull. I remember the on-set conversations always gravitated towards present-day politics; there would be long conversations about the JP movement, they all came from the stable of Ramakrishna Hegde and everyone was interested in politics. They were all in awe of Devraj Urs.”
She further adds that wit of Ramesh Kumar is unchanged and rather his communication has got better with time.
Malavika adds, “There is a certain innate talent that makes you a Speaker in the Assembly. Ramesh Kumar has that. Even acting was for him like speaking on any other occasion, he’s a very good communicator. Even while shooting, the director only had to tell him what the scene needed, and he would start off. It would be hard to get him to stop, you couldn’t say cut.”
