Rajeev Gowda

M. V. Rajeev Gowda is an Indian politician and academician.

He is a former member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha and a national spokesperson for the Indian National Congress.

He also currently serves as Chairman of the "Congress Research Department".

He was Professor of Economics and Social Sciences and the Chairperson of the Centre for Public Policy at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and taught a range of courses.

He served as the Director of the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India.

MV Venkatappa had worked as a member of Land Reforms Committee from 1972 to 1974 during the period of the Late Devaraj Urs.

He was also a prominent politician elected twice from the Mulbagal assembly constituency and member of the upper house of the assembly for two terms.

His wife and Rajeev Gowda's mother Subhadra is a social worker and has been President of the Karnataka Mahila Sabha.

His late uncle M. V. Krishnappa was involved in India's freedom movement and was also the founder of the Bangalore Dairy.

He was a minister in Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet and was elected to the Lok Sabha six times.

In his youth, Rajeev Gowda was active in student politics and was the vice-president of the students union at St. Joseph's College, Bangalore.

Later, he moved to the United States for his higher education and built his academic career there, attaining tenure as a professor at the University of Oklahoma before moving back to India after more than 16 years abroad to teach at the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and pursue his political ambitions.

Rajeev Gowda is married to Sharmila Bhaktaram.

Prof. Gowda studied economics and political science at St. Joseph's College, Bangalore, where he was elected as the Vice-President of the Student Union in 1982–83.

He was awarded the Bangalore University gold medal in political science and secured a fully funded scholarship to pursue Masters in Economics in Fordham University, New York.

Prof. Gowda holds a PhD in Public Policy & Management from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.

He was also a Post- Doctoral Fellow in Law & Economics from University of Berkeley, California.

Prof. Gowda also co-founded the acclaimed Karnataka Quiz Association in 1983, and was the national runner up on BBC TV's Mastermind India in 2001.

Gowda is a renowned expert in election law.

He contributed to the Routledge Handbook of Election Law.

In 1991, Rajeev Gowda was awarded the John M. Olin Post-doctoral Fellow in Law and Economics- Law School (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, USA.

He was a visiting scholar at the Center for Jurisprudence and Social Policy- Law School (Boalt Hall), University of California.

In the year 1992, he joined the University of Oklahoma as Assistant Professor of Political Science.

From 1999 to 2000 he held the positions of Associate Professor of Political Science and Research Fellow in Science and Public Policy at the University of Oklahoma.

He was also the Coordinator, Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environment Program at the University in 1999.

In 2000, he moved to India to help set up the Centre for Public Policy at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and was Chairperson of the centre.

At present he is a professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

His other professional appointments include being a Carnegie Council Global Ethics Fellow and a Member of the Central Board, Reserve Bank of India.

Rajeev Gowda was chosen to launch the Congress party's younger generation election campaign nationally in Guwahati, 2004.

At the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, he is the official Spokesperson and Member of the Manifesto Committee.

He has also held the positions of Director, General Insurance Corporation of India, 2007–2010 and Member, Executive Council, Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, 2008–present.

He has been an invited columnist for several publications including Deccan Herald, Economic Times, India Today, Times of India and Outlook.

He was the Chairman of the BBMP Election Manifesto Drafting Committee, 2010 and an Ex-Convenor, Vichar Vibhag.

To strengthen the support base of the Congress online, Rajeev Gowda has co-founded and runs a pro-Congress blog site hamaracongress.com

Prof. Gowda is a member of the following committees in his capacity as a Member of Parliament:

Highlighting various programs pioneered by the Congress party:

Elections, polls, statehood:

He is currently the Advisor for Bridge India, a progressive non-profit think tank set up In London in 2018.

Rajeev Gowda was born into an eminent family in Bangalore and his father's and uncle's public lives influenced his own political ambitions.

His late father M. V. Venkatappa, held the positions of Legislative Assembly Speaker and Chairman of the legislative council in the state of Karnataka.