Devaraj Urs
| D. Devaraj Urs | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| 8th Chief Minister of Karnataka | |
|
In office 20 March 1972 – 31 December 1977 |
|
| Preceded by | President's Rule |
| Succeeded by | President's Rule |
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In office 28 February 1978 – 7 January 1980 |
|
| Preceded by | President's Rule |
| Succeeded by | R. Gundu Rao |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 20 August 1915 Mysore, Mysore State (now in Karnataka) |
| Died | 18 May 1982 |
| Political party |
Indian National Congress Indian National Congress (Urs) |
D. Devaraj Urs (20 August 1915 – 18 May 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the 8th Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80), a state in southern India. He entered politics in 1952 and was an MLA for 10 years. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 as Samstha and Indira Congress, he stood with Indira Gandhi. He became the Chief Minister (fifth Assembly) for the first time from 20.3.1972 to 31.12.1977, later for the second time from 17.3.1978 to 8.6.1980 (sixth Assembly).
D. Devaraj Urs was born at Kallahalli in Hunsur taluka, Mysore district, in what was then the Kingdom of Mysore. His father, also named Devaraj Urs, was a land-owner and his mother, Devira Ammanni, was a pious and traditional lady. He had one brother, Kemparaje Urs. The family belonged to the aristocratic Arasu community, the nobility of Mysore Kingdom, and were very distant kin to the Wodeyar royal family, because several Maharajas of Mysore had taken brides from the Arasu families of Kallahalli.
Devaraj Urs was married to 11-year-old Chikkammanni (or Chikka Ammani), a girl from his own community and from a suitable family, in a match arranged by their parents when he was almost 15. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. They had three daughters — Chandra Prabha, Nagrathna and Bharathi.
Devaraj Urs had his primary and high school education at the Urs Boarding School in Mysore, which had been set up by the Maharaja of Mysore expressly to provide suitable education to the sons of the Arasu community, to equip them for higher responsibilities in their adulthood. After passing school, Devaraj Urs studied at the Maharajas College in Mysore and took a BA Degree.
After completing his education, Devaraj Urs returned to Kallahalli and engaged himself in agriculture, overseeing the extensive lands owned by his family. However, his innate leadership quality did not permit Devraj Urs to stay in the village and brought him to politics.
Devaraj Urs entered politics in 1952 by contesting the very first elections held in the country after it attained independence. At this time, the Maharaja was still the head of state in Mysore (until 1956), the state retained the same boundaries as before independence, and the Arasu community was entrenched in the countryside due to centuries of ties with village communities. Devaraj Urs easily won a seat to the state legislature and served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for 10 years (two successive terms). An Indian National Congress party leader from Mysore, Urs was a member of the intra-party "Syndicate" of powerful regional leaders. However, he was never as antagonistic towards Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as other leaders of the Syndicate, such as K. Kamaraj. When push came to shove, he chose to abandon the Syndicate and go with Indira Gandhi.
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