V. Sunil Kumar Explained

V. Sunil Kumar
Office1:Minister of Energy
Government of Karnataka
Term Start1:4 August 2021
Term End1:13 May 2023
1Blankname1:Chief Minister
1Namedata1:Basavaraj Bommai
Predecessor1:B. S. Yediyurappa
Office2:Minister of Kannada & Culture
Government of Karnataka
Term Start2:4 August 2021
Term End2:13 May 2023
1Blankname2:Chief Minister
1Namedata2:Basavaraj Bommai
Predecessor2:Arvind Limbavali
Office3:Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly
Term Start3:8 May 2013
Constituency3:Karkala
Predecessor3:H. Gopal Bhandary
Term Start4:2004
Term End4:2008
Predecessor4:H. Gopal Bhandary
Constituency4:Karkala
Birth Name:Vasudev Sunil Kumar
Birth Date:15 August 1975
Birth Place:Karkala Neklaje Guthu, Karnataka, India
Party:Bharatiya Janata Party
Spouse:Priyanka
Residence:Karkala, Karnataka
Children:3
Parents:Vasudev Pramoda

Vasudev Sunil Kumar (born 15 August 1975)[1] is an Indian politician from Karnataka. He is the member of the legislative assembly from Bharatiya Janata Party representing Karkala Assembly constituency. He served as Chief Whip of BJP Government in Karnataka Legislative Assembly. In November 2020, he was appointed the co-incharge of BJP in Kerala.

Political career

Sunil Kumar started his political career as a leader of the student wing of the RSS, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Later he joined Bharatiya Janata Party in the year 2004.

In the 2004 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election he contested against the incumbent member H. Gopal Bhandary of Indian National Congress and he was elected to Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Karkala constituency for the first time. He defeated Congress candidate by a margin of over 10000 votes. .[2] Kumar lost the seat to H. Gopal Bhandary in the 2008 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election by a narrow margin of 1537 votes.[2] Kumar later contested Udupi-Chikmagalur Loksabha by-election in 2012. The seat was vacated after D. V. Sadananda Gowda became Chief Minister of Karnataka. He lost by huge margin against K. Jayaprakash Hegde of Congress. Kumar was elected as MLA from Karkala Constituency in 2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election by defeating H. Gopal Bhandary by over 4000 votes. Currently he is serving as the chief Whip of ruling party in Karnataka government.[3]

He was re-elected as the MLA from Karkala Constituency by defeating H. Gopal Bhandary for the 3rd time with a margin of 42566 votes on 15 May 2018. In November 2020, he was appointed Co-incharge of BJP Kerala by party president Jagat Prakash Nadda.

When BJP formed government under B.S.Yediyurappa in 2019, it was highly expected that Sunil Kumar will be made cabinet minister but his name was missing. His name was again ignored during cabinet expansion in January 2021. Sunil Kumar wrote a letter to State BJP Party president Nalin Kumar Kateel expressing displeasure.

He was later sworn in as a cabinet minister, under Basavaraj Bommai in August 2021. He was given the energy ministry and the ministry for Kannada and culture.[4]

He was re-elected as the MLA from Karkala for the fourth time in May 2023, defeating Uday Shetty of the Indian National Congress (INC) with a lead of 4,602 votes.

Personal life

Sunil Kumar married Priyanka & they have 3 children.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: V. Sunil Kumar bio. kla.kar.nic.in. 27 February 2018.
  2. News: Karnataka elections 2013 - Fiery Sunil takes on witty Gopal. Prabhu. Ganesh. 1 May 2013. The Hindu. The Hindu Group. 7 May 2014.
  3. News: Karnataka polls: list of winners, constituency wise results. 9 May 2013. India TV. 7 May 2014.
  4. News: Joshi . Bharath . Karnataka CM Basavaraj Bommai keeps Finance, Bengaluru, Sudhakar retains health portfolio . 29 February 2024 . Deccan Herald . The Printers Mysore Ltd . 7 August 2021 . en.