Kandam Ramaiah Ramesh Kumar (born 22 November 1949) is an Indian politician who was the 16th speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly from 25 May 2018 to 29 July 2019, previously from 1994 to 1999 and member of the Indian National Congress from the state of Karnataka.
In June 2016, Ramesh Kumar was inducted into the Siddaramaiah led government of Karnataka as a cabinet minister.
Ramesh Kumar held the Health and Family Welfare Ministry portfolio in the Government of Karnataka.
[2][3] He was elected unopposed as the speaker of 15th Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 2018 after JD(S) and Congress unity.
[6][7][8] In 2019, Ramesh Kumar made an insensitive and crass humor statement in the Assembly where he compared himself with a rape survivor having to undergo repeated questioning during the discussion on the controversial audio clips that allegedly mentioned his name for taking Rs.