H. D. Deve Gowda

Date of Birth:	18 May 1933
Place of Birth:	Haradanahalli , KA
Prime Minister of India
Tenure Order:	11th Prime Minister
Political party:	United Front
Took Office:	1 June 1996
Left Office:	21 April 1997
Predecessor:	Atal Behari Vajpayee
Successor:	I. K. Gujral

Haradanahalli Dodde Deve Gowda (born 18 May 1933) was the eleventh Prime Minister of the Republic of India (1996–1997) and the 14th chief minister of the state of Karnataka (1994–1996).

H D Deve Gowda is from the Hassan district in the state of Karnataka. He joined the Congress Party in 1953 and remained in this party until 1962. He then contested elections as an independent candidate and was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly (Vidhana Sabha) in 1962. He was elected for the next three terms from the Holenarsipur constituency. From 1972 to 1976 and again from November 1976 to 1977, he was the leader of the opposition party in the legislative assembly.

In his next two terms in the legislative assembly, he was in charge of the Public Works and Irrigation portfolios respectively. He resigned from the cabinet in 1982 over the government's refusal to allocate more funds to the irrigation department.

He was elected to the Lok Sabha from the Hassan constituency in 1991.

He became the president of the Janata Dal at the state level in 1994, and became the 14th chief minister of Karnataka in the same year.

In 1996, the Indian parliament did not see any single party achieve a clear majority. A coalition of political parties, the United Front, elected Deve Gowda as the leader; in a surprise development, Deve Gowda became the 11th Prime Minister of the Republic of India (June 1, 1996). He held the post until April 21, 1997.

He is now the president of the Janata Dal (S) political party in India and member of Parliament (MP) for the Hassan district in Karnataka.