Haradanahalli Doddegowda Deve Gowda (pronunciationⓘ; born 18 May 1933)[2] is an Indian politician who served as the prime minister of India from 1996 to 1997.

[5] Born in a family of farmers, Deve Gowda joined the Indian National Congress in 1953 and remained a member until 1962.

He became president of the state unit of the Janata Dal in 1994 and was considered to be a driving force in the party's victory in Karnataka.

H. D. Deve Gowda was born on 18 May 1933 in Haradanahalli, a village in Holenarasipura Taluk, of the erstwhile Kingdom of Mysore (now in Hassan, Karnataka).

His father Dodde Gowda was a paddy farmer and mother, Devamma was a home maker.

In 1962, Deve Gowda was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly from Holenarasipura constituency as an independent candidate.

When the United Front (a conglomeration of non-Congress and non-BJP regional parties) decided to form the Government at the Centre with the support of the Congress and CPI(M), Deve Gowda was unexpectedly chosen to head the government after V. P. Singh and Jyoti Basu declined.

Deve Gowda's son, H. D. Kumaraswamy, headed the BJP-JD(S) coalition government in the state for 20 months.

[31] Deve Gowda contested the 2019 general elections against G. S. Basavaraj in Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency of Karnataka.

G. S. Basavaraj, BJP candidate of Tumkur Constituency won against Deve Gowda by a margin of 13,339 votes.

They have six children together: four sons, including politicians H. D. Revanna and H. D. Kumaraswamy, who is the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, and two daughters.