K. Sharanappa Eshwarappa (born 10 June 1948)[2] is an Indian politician and a senior Bharatiya Janata Party member, who was the 6th Deputy Chief Minister of Karnataka, in the government headed by Jagadish Shettar.

In 1989, he contested the Karnataka assembly elections as a BJP candidate from Shimoga and defeated a heavyweight, the then health Minister K. H. Srinivas by a margin of 1,304 votes.

[12] Days after making an alleged “hate speech” against a minority community, Eshwarappa was slapped with a criminal case in April 2013 after electoral officials issued directions for it.

[16] On 14 April 2022, Eshwarappa resigned from his position as Rural Development and Panchayat Raj minister after a controversy arose over his alleged role in the suicide of a contractor, Santhosh Patil, who wasn't paid for road works.

[17][18] In April 2023, Eshwarappa announced retirement from electoral politics, by writing to the National President of BJP J. P. Nadda to not consider his name to any constituency for the Karnataka Assembly elections that year.

[19] In March 2024, he expressed displeasure over his son Kantesh being denied a ticket to contest the general election for the Lok Sabha from Haveri, and blamed party colleague Yeddyurappa alleging his hand in the matter.

[21] Santhosh Patil, a contractor involved in government projects, accused Eshwarappa of harassing him for commission, was found dead in a hotel in the state’s Udupi district on morning of April 12, 2022.

[22][23] Patil who had recently raised allegations against the then rural development minister K S Eshwarappa, saying that the BJP leader had been harassing him for commissions to clear the bills for contracts he had implemented for the government over a year ago.

Patil, in his letters to the central government, had stated that he and six other contractors had implemented road projects in Hindala gram panchayat in Belagavi district in May 2021, but were not paid for the same.

Alleging that government officials were seeking a 40 per cent commission on the total bill, Patil claimed to have approached top BJP leaders with his grievances.

[1] Eshwarappa made a controversial remark at an event in Gundlupet, claiming that churches and mosques were built in Mathura and Kashi after demolishing temples.

[28] During his speech at the BJP’s ongoing Vijay Sankalpa Yatra on 12 March 2023, azan – the Islamic call for prayer – was heard in the background.

Today or tomorrow, this (practice of calling azaan over mics) will definitely end,” Eshwarappa said, attracting cheers from party supporters at the rally.