Gowda defeated the incumbent MP and former Chief Minister of Karnataka R. Gundu Rao and thus BJP won the elections for the 1st time in Bangalore South.
In 1991, Gowda was elected to the Lok Sabha as the BJP candidate defeating the former Chief Minister R. Gundu Rao of the Congress.
A Scheduled Caste lady was his foster mother as she fed him throughout infancy and he honoured her by inviting her every year and giving her a sari, as long as she was alive.
Professor Venugopal K R Vice-Chancellor Bangalore University (2018-2022) was instrumental in setting up Dr Venkatagiri Gowda Auditorium at Jnana Bharathi, BU who obtained his PhD in International Economics - Petrodollar and the World Economy under his guidance in 1989 and was his favourite student.
His book on "Petro Dollars" accumulated by the oil-rich Arab countries in the mid-Seventies was widely acclaimed in India and abroad.