Sri. H. D. Deve Gowda
Former Prime Minister
Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (born 18 May 1933) is an Indian politician who served as the 11th Prime Minister of Indiafrom 1 June 1996 to 21 April 1997. He was previously the 14th Chief Minister of Karnataka from 1994 to 1996.
He is a member of the 16th Lok Sabha, representing the Hassan constituency of Karnataka, and is the National President of the Janata Dal (Secular) party.
Gowda was born on 18 May 1933 in Haradanahalli, a village in Holenarasipura taluk, of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore (now in Hassan, Karnataka) into a Vokkaliga caste family, which is categorised as an Other Backward Class by the Indian government. His father Dodde Gowda was a paddy farmer and mother, Devamma.
Gowda earned a diploma in civil engineering from L. V. Polytechnic, Hassan, in the late 1950s. He married Chennamma in 1954. They have six children together: four sons including politician H. D. Revanna and H. D. Kumaraswamy and two daughters.