End of an Era in Indian Parliament as H D Deve Gowda Prepares to Exit Rajya Sabha on June 25

Former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda is set to conclude his long parliamentary career spanning nearly five decades , as he will retire from the Rajya Sabha on June 25 after not being renominated by the NDA for the upcoming elections.

The BJP has announced M Nagaraja as its candidate from Karnataka for one of the four vacant Rajya Sabha seats , while the Congress is expected to win the remaining three seats in the state.

Deve Gowda, 93 , a key JD(S) leader and former prime minister who served from 1996 to 1997 , has been a member of both Houses of Parliament across multiple terms. He has also served as a Lok Sabha MP six times , a Rajya Sabha MP twice , and a seven-time member of the Karnataka Assembly .

A farmer leader by background , he first entered public office in 1962 as an Independent MLA from Karnataka at the age of 28. He later held key roles in state politics, including Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly during the 1970s, and went on to become Karnataka Chief Minister in 1994 before ascending to the Prime Minister’s post two years later .

With his retirement, Parliament will no longer have any former Prime Minister as a sitting member .

Following the BJP’s nomination decision, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala criticised the move, calling it a “humiliation” of JD(S) . He also pointed to past political developments involving the JD(S)-BJP alliance , and contrasted the current decision with earlier support extended to Deve Gowda for his Rajya Sabha entry.

The development marks the end of a significant parliamentary era for one of India’s longest-serving political figures , whose career has spanned both state and national leadership roles .