With the Janata Dal in disarray, the former prime minister has lost
much of his clout. Yet, he has formed a pressure group in the party
along with party President Sharad Yadav and Union Railways
Minister Ram Vilas Paswan. Deve Gowda has lost much of his
influence after being ousted from office, but the former prime
minister is desperately trying to regain his foothold at the Centre and
in his home state Karnataka, where he has to contend with political
rivals like Chief Minister J.H. Patel-his handpicked successor-and
former chief minister Ramakrishna Hegde. Born in Hardanahalli in
Hassan in Karnataka, he participated in the freedom struggle and
was imprisoned during Emergency. He was an MLA from 1962-89
and later became president of the Karnataka unit of the Janata
Party. First elected to the Lok Sabha in 1991, he returned to his
state to become chief minister. And when the United Front failed to
persuade either V.P. Singh or Jyoti Basu to become Prime Minister
in 1996, the mantle fell on him. His 10-month tenure ended when
Congress chief Sitaram Kesri pulled the rug from under him in
March 1997.