Kannadiga Anil Hegde is JD(U) candidate for Bihar RS by-poll

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s JD(U) has chosen to field Anil Hegde, a native of Kundapura as the candidate for the by-election to a Rajya Sabha seat. The election has been necessitated by the death of multiple-term MP ‘King Mahendra’.

Anil Hegde had been George Fernandes’ secretary for several years and was instrumental in organizing Janata Dal in Karnataka state.

Born to Haladi Narayana Hegde and Hemavathi N Nair on May 20, 1960, Anil Hegde got his graduate degree from Mangalore University. As per reports his mother was pleasantly surprised when he chose to join politics.

Hegde has been living in the JDU headquarters in Delhi for over 12 years. He has for long been the JD(U)’s national election officer, responsible for coordination between the party and the Election Commission during assembly and parliamentary polls.

Known to keep a low profile, he has been closely associated with the Bihar chief minister, the party’s de facto leader, for more than two decades.

He remained loyal to Nitish when the party saw turmoil that resulted in two factions, one being led by Nitish and other by Sharad Yadav.

According to a statement issued by JD(U)) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan, the party has “decided to field Shri Anil Hegde as a candidate for the by-election to the council of states from Bihar, left vacant due to the untimely death of our party MP Dr Mahendra Prasad”.

The last date for nomination for the by-election is Wednesday, and voting, if required, will take place on May 30.