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Who is D K Shivakumar
D K Shivakumar (DKS) is a Congress leader from Karnataka. A seven-time legislator, Shivakumar has held key ministerial positions in Congress governments in the state. In the latest stint, he served as the minister of irrigation in the JD(S)-Congress government that fell in 2019.
Presently, he is an MLA from Kanakapura, a constituency that was once a JD(S) bastion. In 2013, he defeated JD(S) heavyweight PGR Sindhia to win the constituency by over 30,000 votes. Not only Sindhia, Shivakumar has also defeated JD(S) supremo and former prime minister H D Devegowda and his son H D Kumaraswamy from various Bengaluru rural seats. He came to be known as 'giant killer' after these wins.
Congress' 'troubleshooter'
Shivakumar is also considered a master strategist and is the go-to person for Congress in times of crisis. He is credited to playing critical role in the formation of the coalition government of Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka following the 2018 elections. Not just Karnataka, he has been Congress' go-to man in case of crisis in other states as well. In 2001, he hosted Congress MLAs from Maharashtra in Bengaluru as the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led government faced a crisis.
DKS made headlines for a similar reason in 2017. Just before Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections, he assisted his party to move Gujarat Congress MLAs into his resort in Bengaluru in order to prevent them from moving to the BJP.
Shivakumar is among the richest politicians in Karnataka. While filing his nomination for election in 2018, he declared total assets of Rs 840 crore, an increase of about Rs 590 crore from the 2013 elections.
Corruption charges
On 3 September 2019, Shivakumar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on charges of money laundering and tax evasion.
Two years before the arrest, Shivakumar's residence and office in Bengaluru were raided by the I-T Department. The raids took place after Shivakumar hosted Gujarat Congress MLAs in his resort in August 2017.