Janardhana Poojary

Janardhana Poojary (born April 27, 1937) is a senior politician from Indian National Congress party. He was a former Union Minister and Karnataka's Congress President. He was also an All India Congress Committee General Secretary during the time of former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao. He is from Mangalore, Karnataka and his mother-tongue is Tulu. [ [http://rajyasabha.nic.in/kiosk/whoswho/alpha_p9.htm Rajya Sabha Member biographical sketch] ]

Before joining politics, he was a practicing barrister from 1960 to 1979. As a lawyer he was actively engaged in safeguarding the interests of poor agricultural tenants and defended a large number of poor people by giving them free legal aid. He was a Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Finance from 1982-84. From 1984 to 87 he was the Minister of State for Finance. He was the Minister of State for Rural Development in 1984-87. In April 1994, he was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian Parliament ndash a position he held until May 2008.

He was responsible for the construction of several college, schools, mosque and temples, including the Kudroli Temple in Mangalore. During the tenure as Union Minister of State for Finance, he organized credit camps (Loan Melas) to give assistance to the weaker sections of the society. He is known as Badavara Bandhu (friend of the poor) for his work in assisting the poor.

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