Sudheendra Kulkarni

Kulkarni was educated at Jadhavji Anandji High School in Athani, a town in Belgaum district, Karnataka, India. He went on to study metallurgical engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay.{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/oldStory/85952/ |title=Gurudakshina: what we owe to alma maters |last=Kulkarni |first=Sudheendra |date=15 July 2006 |work=The Indian Express (Online) |publisher=The Indian Express Limited |accessdate=29 May 2012 |location=New Delhi}}

A former member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist),{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/article7706.ece |title=Sudheendra Kulkarni quits BJP |agency=PTI |date=23 August 2009 |work=The Hindu |accessdate=29 May 2012 |location=Chennai}} Kulkarni joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1996.{{cite web |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111120/jsp/nation/story_14775727.jsp |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222171940/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1111120/jsp/nation/story_14775727.jsp |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2014 |title=BJP greets 'brave' Kulkarni |date=19 November 2011 |work=The Telegraph |accessdate=29 May 2012 |location=Kolkata}} Of this ideological switch he said, "People like me were living in an illusory land. I realised very late in my life that the Marxist ideology is not suitable in India - in fact, I would say it is unsuitable for any corner of the world."{{cite book |title=Lal Krishna Advani: Deputy Prime Minister |first1=K. |last1=Bhushan |first2=G. |last2=Katyal |publisher=APH Publishing |location=New Delhi |year=2002 |isbn=978-8-1764-8392-6 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CC_UokYgZaQC |accessdate=29 May 2012}}

As a member of the BJP, he was associated with the India Shining campaign{{cite web |url=http://news.rediff.com/column/2009/jun/11/kanchan-gupta-on-why-the-knives-are-out-in-the-bjp.htm |title=The knives are out in the BJP |last=Gupta |first=Kanchan |date=11 June 2009 |publisher=Rediff.com |accessdate=29 May 2012 |location=Mumbai}} and rode on the inaugural Delhi–Lahore Bus.{{cite web |url=http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?207089 |title=One Small Step At Wagah |last=Kulkarni |first=Sudheendra |date=8 March 1999 |work=OUTLOOK india.com |publisher=Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. |accessdate=29 May 2012 |location=New Delhi}} He helped former Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee write his speeches{{cite book |author=Rafiq Zakaria |title=Indian Muslims: where have they gone wrong? |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMlKSmWRQ8cC&pg=PA348 |accessdate=21 July 2011 |year=2004 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7991-201-0 |page=348}} and in 2008 was acting as a strategist for Lal Krishna Advani,{{cite news |title=Strategy Mian |date=22 September 2008 |publisher=Outlook Publishing (India) Pvt. Ltd. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ODEEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA13 |work=Outlook |accessdate=21 July 2011}} who had influenced his rise within the party.

Kulkarni resigned from the BJP in 2009. The electoral defeat suffered by the party, led by Advani, had effectively ended his role with the party and he had also become disenchanted with the influence exerted by the right-wing paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on party decision-making.{{cite news |newspaper=Hindustan Times |date=23 August 2009 |title=Advani's key aide Sudheendra Kulkarni quits BJP |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Advani-s-key-aide-Sudheendra-Kulkarni-quits-BJP/Article1-446123.aspx |accessdate=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929044650/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Advani-s-key-aide-Sudheendra-Kulkarni-quits-BJP/Article1-446123.aspx |archivedate=29 September 2011}}

In January 2012, he was reported to be once more working full-time for the BJP, on this occasion as an advisor to its president, Nitin Gadkari. He had been working for Reliance Industries and the Observer Research Foundation, a think tank, prior to this.{{cite web |url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/sudheendra-kulkarni-back-in-bjp/1/169793.html |title=Return to party: Sudheendra Kulkarni back in BJP |last=Bamzai |first=Kaveree |date=20 January 2012 |work=India Today (online) |publisher=Living Media India Limited |accessdate=27 May 2012 |location=New Delhi}}

Kulkarni worked as executive editor for{{when|date=May 2012}} Blitz, a Mumbai-based tabloid format weekly that was edited and owned by Russi Karanjia.{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/he-launched-blitz-on-feb-1-died-on-feb-1it/268196/ |title=He launched Blitz on Feb 1, died on Feb 1-it's no coincidence |accessdate=24 July 2011 |last=Kulkarni |first=Sudheendra |date=2 February 2008 |work=indianexpress.com |publisher=The Indian Express Limited}} According to Kulkarni, Karanjia was sympathetic to the communist movement in India but became disillusioned with it and its anti-Hindu secularism. He became a strong sympathiser of the BJP and the Ayodhya movement, which led to Kulkarni being appointed in place of P. Sainath as deputy editor. Kulkarni was tasked with having Blitz reflect Karanjia's new-found sympathies. Kulkarni then transformed Blitz from a left-wing newspaper into a BJP-oriented publication.

Kulkarni joined the Hinduja Group of Companies as Vice President (Media) in the mid-1990s, at a time when the Hinduja Group's chairman was considering tying up with American newspapers to publish an Indian version.{{cite web |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/the-storied-life-of-sudheendra-kulkarni/article7754200.ece |title=Storied Life of Sudheendra Kulkarni |date=13 October 2015 |accessdate=5 April 2019 |work=The Hindu |publisher=Kasturi & Sons Limited}} It is reported that the Chairman, Srichand Hinduja noticed Sudheendra Kulkarni's Blitz article praising him as a modern-day 'Chanakya' or political diplomat, and arranged to meet him. Later, he joined the Hinduja Group, and wrote many speeches for the Chairman. The newspaper venture of the Hindua Group never took off, and after a few years of professional wilderness with the Hindujas, Kulkarni resigned to join the BJP.

In 2008, a sting operation was carried out that involved Kulkarni and another BJP activist. Later televised and known as the "cash-for-votes scandal", the operation purported to show a bribe of 10 million rupees being offered to three BJP MPs on behalf of the Indian National Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. The alleged bribes were intended to obtain the support of the MPs in the 2008 Lok Sabha Vote of Confidence. Subsequently, both the Kishore Chandra Deo committee — a parliamentary panel — and the police investigated the arrangements and questioned various participants, including Kulkarni.{{cite news |newspaper=The Hindu |title=Parliamentary panel on 'cash-for-vote' scam recommended further probe |first=Neena |last=Vyas |date=18 March 2011 |url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/article1548877.ece |accessdate=23 July 2011}}{{cite news |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/Prepared-to-be-quizzed-in-cash-for-vote-sting-Kulkarni/Article1-723424.aspx | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130125091005/http://www.hindustantimes.com/Prepared-to-be-quizzed-in-cash-for-vote-sting-Kulkarni/Article1-723424.aspx | url-status = dead | archive-date = 25 January 2013 |title=Prepared to be quizzed in cash-for-vote sting: Kulkarni |accessdate=21 July 2011 |date=20 July 2011 |newspaper=Hindustan Times |agency=Press Trust of India}} In 2011, Kulkarni was remanded in judicial custody for a period{{cite news |title=Cash-for-vote scam: Sudheendra Kulkarni's bail plea rejected, sent to judicial custody till October 1 |url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Cash-for-vote-scam-Sudheendra-Kulkarnis-bail-plea-rejected-sent-to-judicial-custody-till-October-1/articleshow/10140486.cms |accessdate=27 September 2011 |newspaper=The Times of India |date=27 September 2011}} and in November of that year was released on bail.{{cite web |url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/my-days-in-tihar-ashram/880879/0 |title=My Days in Tihar Ashram |last=Kulkarni |first=Sudheendra |date=27 November 2011 |work=The Indian Express |accessdate=27 May 2012 |location=New Delhi}}{{cite web |url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-18/news/30415042_1_bjp-mps-sting-operation-mahavir-bhagora |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103090818/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-11-18/news/30415042_1_bjp-mps-sting-operation-mahavir-bhagora |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 January 2013 |title=Sudheendra Kulkarni, 2 BJP Ex-MPs walk out of Tihar |date=18 November 2011 |work=The Economic Times |publisher=Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. |accessdate=27 May 2012 |location=Mumbai}}

On 12 October 2015, Kulkarni was attacked by Shiv Sena activists for organising a book launch for former Pakistan foreign minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri. The Sena alleged that Kulkarni had disrespected Indian soldiers by sharing a stage with Kasuri, and his attackers blackened his face and clothes with black paint.{{cite news |url=http://www.catchnews.com/national-news/sudheendra-kulkarni-a-look-back-at-the-former-bjp-ideologue-s-career-ink-shiv-sena-bjp-narendra-modi-1444643856.html |title=Sudheendra Kulkarni, the communist who became a BJP ideologue |accessdate=5 April 2019 |date=12 October 2015 |newspaper=Catch News}} Following the attack, Kulkarni continued with the book launch with his blackened face and clothes.{{cite news |url=http://www.sify.com/news/ink-attack-on-kulkarni-an-act-of-extreme-intolerance-of-ones-views-tulsi-news-national-pkmrLeeicdjgd.html |title=Ink attack on Kulkarni |accessdate=5 April 2019 |date=12 October 2015 |newspaper=Sify News}}{{dead link|date=September 2022|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

In the run-up to the 2019 elections, Sudheendra Kulkarni switched sides again, and started openly supporting the Congress President Rahul Gandhi as the best candidate for the country's Prime Minister.{{cite web |url=https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/would-like-to-see-rahul-gandhi-as-prime-minister-says-sudheendra-kulkarni-1869540 |title=Would like to see Rahul as PM: Sudheendra Kulkarni |accessdate=4 April 2019 |date=19 June 2018 |work=PTI |publisher=NDTV}} Citing many problems India faced such as China and Pakistan, he said that Rahul Gandhi, whom he described as a 'leader with a good heart' would become an ideal Prime Minister of India, and openly opposed Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

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Category:Living people

Category:IIT Bombay alumni

Category:Journalists from Karnataka

Category:People from Belagavi district

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)