D K Suresh is a two-time MP of Bangalore Rural parliamentary constituency. The 52-year-old was born in Doddaalahalli, Ramanagara.

Suresh was first elected through a by-election in 2013 from Bangalore Rural, after sitting MP H D Kumaraswamy resigned. He was elected a second time in the 2014 Lok Sabha election.

Personal information

Name: Doddaalahalli Kempegowda Suresh

Age: 52 years

Constituency: Bangalore Rural

Party: Indian National Congress

Term: 2013-2014, 2014-2019

Educational Qualifications: Higher Secondary School

Profession: Businessperson, farmer, social worker, educationist

Address: Doddalahalli, Kanakpura, Ramanagara District, Karnataka-562126

Phone: 9845029142

Email: dksuresh10@gmail.com

Online presence:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DKSuresh.official/

Twitter: @DKSureshINC

Criminal cases

D K Suresh faces five criminal cases. However, charges have not been framed in any of the cases.

• FOC 24/2011-12: Accused of erecting electrical lines in a reserved forest area. Case filed as per Section 24 of Karnataka Forest Act, 1963.
• FOC 115/2006-07, FOC 37/2006-07, FOC 35/2006-07, FOC 28/2006-06: Accused of quarrying in reserved forest land. Cases filed as per Section 41(2) of Karnataka Forest Rules, 1969, and Section 104 of Karnataka Forest Act, 1963.

Assets and Liabilities 

(Sources: myneta.info; ECI)

Over the past five years, D K Suresh’s assets increased by 294 percent – from Rs 86 crore in 2014, to Rs 339 crore in 2019. His liabilities also increased by Rs 33 crore in this period.

Even in 2014, although he had been MP for only a year, D K Suresh came ninth in the list of the ‘Top 10 sitting re-elected MPs, with highest asset increase’. His assets had shot up disproportionately by 82 percent, or over Rs 38 crore, within just one year.

Positions held

In 15th Lok Sabha (From September 2013 to May 2014)

• Member of Standing Committee on Water Resources

In 16th Lok Sabha (2014-2019)

• Member, Committee on Provision of Computers to Members of Lok Sabha
• Member, Standing Committee on Information Technology
• Member, Consultative Committee, Ministry of Food Processing Industries

Source: Lok Sabha

Performance in parliament

Source: PRS India

Suresh’s attendance and participation in debates seem to be above the state and national average. His record shows 100 per cent attendance in the first session of 2014, and in the budget sessions of 2016 and 2019. His attendance was lowest during the budget session of 2018 (52 percent) and the winter session of 2018 (59 percent).

He has not introduced any private member’s bill.

D K Suresh has participated in 91 debates in parliament, including those related to the state and his constituency. Many of these were related to farmers and rural development. He talked about the need to provide a special financial package to horticulture farmers, the problems faced by mango growers, and the crash in cocoon prices.

Here are some of the key debates Suresh participated in:

• Flood and drought in various parts of the country
• Protection for farmers and silk reelers with reference to Minimum Support Prices and incentives
• Shortage of power supply to coal plants
• Need to set up trauma care centres in Kanakapura and Channapatna
• Pending railway projects in Bengaluru Rural
• The need to direct NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd) to procure more tur pulses
• Start-up village entrepreneurship programme

D K Suresh has asked 648 questions in the House, such as on:

• National optical fibre network
• Maternity Benefits (Amendment) Act, 2017
• Mitigating Greenhouse effect by organic agriculture
• Start-up village entrepreneurship programme
• Effects of open defecation
• Drought assessment in Karnataka
• Composite water management index
• MPLADS funds

The complete list of debates he participated in and questions he asked, is available here.

MP in the news

D K Suresh has been in the news mainly as a Congress party strongman, along with his brother D K Shivakumar. He had charged the Enforcement Directorate, the CBI and the IT wing of targeting Karnataka’s Congress-JD(S) coalition government.

In his first tenure, he had helped farmers in Ramanagara get compensation for cattle that died of foot-and-mouth disease.

He claims that, as Vice-Chairman of DKS Charitable Institute Trust, he has provided drinking water to villages through 50 water treatment plants. He claims that his Trust also identifies beneficiaries for social welfare schemes, and imparts education in rural areas.

While Suresh’s development-related activities has not got much media coverage, he has tweeted claims of having done several rural development works, such as:

• Lifting water from Shimsha river and filling it into Kanva reservoir and 17 lakes of Kunigal taluk
• Developing 33 lakes in Bangalore South and RR Nagar Constituency
• Constructing multi-specialty hospital and medical college in Kanakapura and Ramanagar taluk
• Installing 85,000 pump sets, with free transformers for every two pump sets, to supply efficient and sustainable electricity under HDVS project
• Providing 14,000 deprived rural persons with free housing in Ramanagara, Channapatna, Kanakapura, Magadi, Kunigal and Anekal taluk under government schemes

However, details of his involvement and contributions towards these works is not mentioned. Citizen Matters has not been able to verify these claims.

MPLADS funds

It is not clear how D K Suresh has used his MPLADS funds of Rs 25 cr, since its details have not been updated in the MPLADS website of the Statistics Ministry. The MPLADS website shows that, on March 2, 2015, Suresh had recommended setting up 32 drinking water RO plants in different regions in his constituency, each worth Rs 8 lakh. Overall, the cost of projects he recommended works out to Rs 2.48 cr. But the status of these works is unavailable on the website.

Source: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, GOI