KARNATAKA ELECTIONS

KJ George - the Malayali in Karnataka cabinet

Bengaluru: K J George, the Malayali Congress leader in Karnataka assembly, was sworn in as a minister in Siddaramaiah's cabinet on Saturday. 

George was one among the eight ministers to take oath with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister SK Shivakumar in the grand ceremony held at  Kanteerava Stadium here.

In the recent Karnataka assembly elections of May 10, the 73-year-old politician defeated BJP's Padmanabha Reddy by a margin of 55,768 to retain the Sarvagnanagar constituency in Bengaluru that he has held on to since 2013.

Though most of George's life and political career evolved within Karnataka, he has strong connections to Kerala. George has his roots in Kottayam's Chingavanam. His family moved to Gonikoppa in Karnataka's Kodagu district in the 1960s.

George's political career took off with the Youth Congress when he was 20 years of age. He rose through the ranks and was elected the General Secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. 

Positions held
•  Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Transport, Food and Civil Supplies, Government of Karnataka (1989-1990). 

• Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Government of Karnataka (1990-1994). 

• Minister for Home Affairs, Government of Karnataka - 20 May 2013 - 29 October 2015.

• Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning, Government of Karnataka - 31 October 2015 - 18 July 2016.

• Minister for Large & Medium Scale Industries, Sugar, Information Technology & Bio-Technology, Science and Technology. Commerce and Industry, Government of Karnataka - 6 June 2018 - 23 July 2019.

Apart from politics, George is the founder of Kelachandra Group which has a wide range of businesses, from real estate to mining and aviation.