Laxmi Hebbalkar: Lone Woman In Karnataka Cabinet, Belagavi Rural Legislator Owes Her Meteoric Rise To D.K Shivakumar

The newly-elected Congress government in Karnataka is all set to expand the state cabinet with the swearing-in ceremony of 24 Ministers scheduled today (May 27) at the Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.

Laxmi Hebbalkar will be the lone woman legislator who will make it to the cabinet headed by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Even as CM Siddaramaiah and his deputy D.K Shivakumar lobbied hard with the party high command for ensure their camp followers to make into the ministerial list, Hebbalkar inclusion was considered a foregone conclusion.

Hebbalkar's entry into the cabinet will mark yet another high point in the career of the combative Congress leader, who has been mired in multiple controversies over the past few years.

A Panchamasali Lingayat from Belagavi district, Hebbalkar, was reelected Congress candidate from the Belagavi Rural constituency with a thumping margin.

A close associate of Shivakumar, Hebbalkar has been embroiled in a series of controversies, including facing multiple charges of irregularities and corruption. She also has been on the radar of investigative agencies.

Once a little-known figure in Belagavi sugar cooperative scene, Hebbalkar's fortune witnessed a meteoric rise after she came in contact with her mentor Shivakumar in the early 2000s.

During his stint as the urban development minister during Chief Minister SM Krishna's regime(1999-2004), Shivakumar faced accusations of allocating G category sites belonging to Belagavi Urban Development Authority to Hebbalkar and her family.

Even as her sugar factory and other business forays failed to take off, Hebbalkar's political journey marched ahead. She secured the Congress nomination in the 2013 Assembly polls from Belagavi Rural. While the Congress won the state polls, Hebbalkar lost to BJP candidate Sanjay Patil. In clear evidence that her stock in the party had risen, she was elevated as the president of the state women's Congress despite the defeat in the polls.

With the Congress party back in power in the state, Hebbalkar and her family members again entered the sugar business by establishing Harsha Sugars Ltd in Belgaum with a capital of Rs 69.9 crores.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Hebbalkar was fielded as party candidate from the Belagavi Lok Sabha constituency but again lost to late BJP leader and former Union Minister Suresh Angadi.

In 2017, Hebbalkar founder herself in the eye of a storm after a local daily published details of agricultural lands purchased by her family just two months before the e-tender was called to set up 1-3 MW solar projects. Incidentally. Shivakumar was then the energy minister of the state.

In 2018, several Congress party workers in the Belagavi district sought the intervention of then Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to act on what they alleged were brazen illegalities committed by Hebbalkar. However, Hebbalkar continued to grow in strength inside the party due to the steadfast support of Shivakumar.

In 2019, Hebbalkar courted another controversy when it emerged that she and her family members started a real estate company Harsha Builders and Developers, with a capital investment of ₹215 crores.

Hebbalkar's rising prominence in party affairs, thanks to her proximity to Shivakumar, was cited as the reason for the exit of Ramesh Jarkiholi from Congress.

With the full backing of Shivakumar, Hebbalkar and her associates attempted to oust the Jarkiholi brothers from the control of the primary land development (PLD) bank in Belagavi in 2018. The events leading up to the election of the bank chairman and vice-chairman triggered a series of events that subsequently led to Ramesh Jarkiholi switching allegiance to the BJP.

Ramesh Jarkiholi had even warned Shivakumar sternly against backing Ms Hebbalkar and interfering in the Congress' affairs in Belagavi.

While the Jakriholi brothers alleged that Hebbalkar was attempting to wield control of the bank through her proxies, supporters of Hebbalkar claimed that fallout was due to issues related to financial transactions between the two parties.

Hebbalkar, who is said to have taken a Rs 200 crore loan from three banks for her under-construction sugar mill, reportedly loaned some of it to the Jarkiholi brothers to start their own factory in Maharashtra. But the brothers allegedly refused to return the money later, leading to their rift.

Hebbalkar has also been in the crosshairs of investigative agencies for her business transactions.

In January 2017, the income tax officials conducted raids at the premises of Hebbalkar. According to the IT officials, the searches were conducted based on "huge unexplained cash deposits" in the bank accounts of her family members and associates and in benami names in primary cooperative societies, which were transferred to business entities engaged in sugar manufacturing.

During another Income tax department raid on the premises of Hebbalkar in 2019, the official found undisclosed assets worth ₹162 crores.

Hebbalkar was also summoned by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the money laundering case against Shivakumar when the latter was lodged in Tihar jail.

In the run-up to the just concluded state elections, Hebbalkar made a sensational claim that she has received specific information that Lokayukta police and IT department are planning raids on as many as 50 opposition candidates and their relatives.

"We have learned that the BJP plans to target as many as 50 candidates or their relatives. I believe even my name is included in the list of persons being targeted. But then, such wrong methods will not succeed," Hebbalkar said while addressing a hurriedly convened press conference in Belgaum.

The claim however did not materialise.