Felipa7295 at 09:52, 9 February 2026

2026-02-09T09:52:41Z

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{{short description|Indian politician}}
{{for|the Kerala politician|K. J. George (Kerala politician)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}

{{Indian name|George|Kelachandra Joseph}}'''Kelachandra Joseph George''' (born 24 August 1949) is an Indian politician from [[Karnataka]]. He is currently serving as Cabinet Minister of Energy in [[Government of Karnataka]] and as a member of [[Karnataka Legislative Assembly]] representing [[Sarvagnanagar Assembly constituency|Sarvagnanagar]].
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = K. J. George
| image =
| caption =
| office = Cabinet Minister, [[Government of Karnataka]]
| predecessor =
| successor =
| governor = [[Thawarchand Gehlot]]
| 1blankname = Chief Minister
| 1namedata = [[Siddaramaiah]]
| subterm = '''Cabinet'''
| suboffice = [[Second Siddaramaiah ministry]]
| 2blankname = Ministry and Departments
| 2namedata = '''Energy'''
| term_start = 20 May 2023<ref>{{Cite web|title= K. J. George sworn as Cabinet Minister in Government of Karnataka|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/elections/assembly-elections/karnataka/karnataka-swearing-in-ceremony-g-parameshwara-kj-george-mb-patil-take-oath-as-cabinet-ministers/videoshow/100376599.cms}}</ref>
| successor1 =
| governor1 = [[Vajubhai Vala]]
| 1blankname1 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata1 = [[H. D. Kumaraswamy]]
| subterm1 = '''Cabinet'''
| suboffice1 = [[Second Kumaraswamy ministry]]
| 2blankname1 = Ministry and Departments
| 2namedata1 = '''Large & Medium Scale Industries'''
| term_start1 = 6 June 2018
| term_end1 = 23 July 2019
| predecessor2 = [[R. Ashoka]] (Home)
| successor2 = [[G. Parameshwara]] (Home)
| governor2 = [[Vajubhai Vala]]
| 1blankname2 = Chief Minister
| 1namedata2 = [[Siddaramaiah]]
| subterm2 = '''Cabinet'''
| suboffice2 = [[First Siddaramaiah ministry]]
| 2blankname2 = Ministry and Departments
| 2namedata2 = * '''Bengaluru Development and Town Planning''' and (31 October 2015 - 18 July 2016)
* '''Home''' (20 May 2013 - 29 October 2015)
| term_start2 = 2013
| term_end2 = 2016
| office3 = Member of [[Karnataka Legislative Assembly]]
| term_start3 = 25 May 2008
| term_end3 =
| predecessor3 = Constituency established
| successor3 =
| constituency3 = [[Sarvagnanagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Sarvagnanagar]]
| birth_name = Kelachandra Joseph George
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1949|8|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Chingavanam]], [[Travancore]] <small>(now in [[Kottayam district|Kottayam]], [[Kerala]], India)</small>
| death_date =
| death_place =
| party = [[Indian National Congress]]
| spouse = Suja George
| children = 2
| profession = [[Politician]] <small>(1969–present)</small>
| religion = 
}}

He was a minister of large and medium size industry in the cabinet of [[H D Kumaraswamy]] and was the Minister for Bengaluru Development and Town Planning. He was previously the Home Minister of Karnataka. He was also the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Transport, Food and Civil Supplies in the [[Veerendra Patil]] government and Cabinet Minister for Housing & Urban Development in the [[S. Bangarappa]] government.

==Early life==
George was born on 24 August 1949 to K. C. Joseph and Mariamma Joseph of [[Chingavanam]], in the Kingdom of [[Travancore]] (now in [[Kottayam district|Kottayam]], [[Kerala]]). His family moved to the [[Kodagu district]] of [[Karnataka]] in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Aji |first1=Sowmya |title=The rags-to-riches story of KJ George, the closest aide of Karnataka CM |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/karnataka-cms-closest-aide-kj-georges-is-a-rags-to-riches-story/articleshow/61280101.cms |website=The Economic Times |date=28 October 2017}}</ref> He spent most of his childhood there before relocating to [[Bangalore]]. Joseph and his sons founded the [http://www.kelachandragroup.com/ Kelachandra Group] in 1980.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kelachandra Brothers|url=http://www.kbros.co.in/|website=Kelachandra Brothers|accessdate=17 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kelachandra Group|url=http://www.kelachandragroup.com/about-us.html|accessdate=17 December 2016|archive-date=25 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161225145646/http://www.kelachandragroup.com/about-us.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> George is married to Suja and has two children.<ref>{{cite news|title=Who is KJ George?|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/who-is/karnataka-minister-congress-who-is-kj-george-4910216/|accessdate=4 February 2018|work=The Indian Express|date=28 October 2017}}</ref>

==Political career==
#K. J. George joined the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1968. His political career started in 1969 when he was elected as the President of the Gonikoppal Town Youth Congress. During 1971–1972, he was the President of the Virajpet Taluk Youth Congress Committee.
#From 1972 to 1973 he was the General of the Coorg District Youth Congress Committee and the President of this forum from 1973 to 1975.
#In 1975 and through 1978 he became the Treasurer of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee.
#In 1982, he was the General Secretary of the [[Indian Youth Congress|All India Youth Congress]] Committee where he served till 1985. He later served as the General Secretary- Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee during and under the Presidentships of K. H Ranganath, [[N. Dharam Singh]], [[S. M. Krishna]], V. S. Kaujalgi, [[Allum Veerabhadrappa]], [[Mallikarjun Kharge]], [[Oscar Fernandes]], [[Veerendra Patil]] and [[Janardhana Poojary]].
#In 1985, he was elected from the erstwhile [[Bharathinagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Bharatinagar Assembly Constituency]] and became an MLA through 1994.
#From 1985 to 1989, he was also the Secretary of the Congress Legislature Party. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Transport, Food and Civil Supplies under Chief Minister [[Veerendra Patil]] and Cabinet Minister for Housing and Urban Development under Chief Minister [[Bangarappa]].
#Currently, he is a State Election Commission Member, the General Secretary K.P.C.C., a Member of the A.I.C.C. and Working Committee Member All India I.N.T.U.C.

K. J. George won from the [[Sarvagnanagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Sarvagnanagar]] constituency at the [[2013 Karnataka Legislative Assembly election|assembly elections in 2013]] by polling in 69,673 votes against his nearest rival Padmanabha Reddy of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]]. During his tenure, the [[Bangalore Political Action Committee]] (B.PAC) rated him the best among legislators of Bangalore, using data sets available in the public domain (Attendance in assembly, Starred questions, Unstarred questions, Percentage of MLALAD fund utilization, Perception survey, Educational qualification, Criminal record and Social Media etc.).<ref>{{cite news |author=Staff Reporter |title=K.J. George emerges topper |url=http://www.thehindu.com/elections/karnataka-2018/kj-george-emerges-topper/article23532046.ece |accessdate=15 June 2018 |work=The Hindu |date=14 April 2018 |language=en-IN}}</ref>

In 2018 Assembly Polls, George won from the Sarvagnanagar constituency by a margin of over 53,000 votes against Bhartiya Janta Party’s MN Reddy who stood a distant second.
He won 2023 elections in urban Bengaluru.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|K. J. George}}
* [http://www.kla.kar.nic.in/assembly/member/14thWhoSwho/17.pdf K. J. George bio in Kannada]

{{DEFAULTSORT:George, K. J.}}
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Karnataka]]
[[Category:State cabinet ministers of Karnataka]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Politicians from Bengaluru]]
[[Category:People from Kodagu district]]
[[Category:1949 births]]
[[Category:Karnataka MLAs 2008–2013]]
[[Category:Karnataka MLAs 2013–2018]]
[[Category:Karnataka MLAs 2018–2023]]
[[Category:Karnataka MLAs 2023–2028]]

K. J. George - Revision history

Felipa7295 at 09:52, 9 February 2026