D. Devaraj Urs

Devaraj Devaraj Urs (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the first Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80), a state in southern India. He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka in terms of days of tenure in office. He entered politics in 1952 and was an MLA for 10 years. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 as Samstha (Congress(O)) and Indira Congress (Congress (R)), he stood with Indira Gandhi. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka (fifth Assembly) for the first time from 20 March 1972 to 31 December 1977 and later for the second time from 17 March 1978 to 8 June 1980 (sixth Assembly). Early life D. Devaraj Urs was born at Kallahalli Hunsur Taluk, Mysore district, the then Kingdom of Mysore. His father, also named Devaraj Urs, was a land-owner and his mother, Devira Ammanni, was a pious and traditional lady. His younger brother, Kemparaj Urs was an actor. The family belonged to the Arasu community and were very distant relatives to the Wodeyar royal family. Urs was married to 11-year-old Chikkammanni (or Chikka Ammani), a girl from his own community and from a suitable family, in a match arranged by their parents when he was almost 15. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. They had three daughters – Chandra Prabha, Nagrathna and Bharathi. Urs had his primary and high school education at the Urs Boarding School in Mysore, which had been set up by the Maharaja of Mysore expressly to provide suitable education to the sons of the Arasu community, to equip them for higher responsibilities in their adulthood. After passing school, Urs studied at the Central College in Bengaluru and took a BSc Degree.