Veerendra Basappa Patil (Kannada: ವೀರೇಂದ್ರ ಪಾಟೀಲ್; 28 February 1924 – 14 March 1997) was a senior Indian politician and was twice, the Chief Minister of Karnataka. He became Chief Minister for the first time from 1968–1971 and the second time was almost 18 years later, from 1989–1990. Biography Born in a middle-class family in Chincholi in Kalaburagi district, Patil belonged to the dominant Banajiga Lingayat community. He was first made a Deputy minister for Home in the S. Nijalingappa government in 1957. He was elected several times from Chincholi assembly constituency of Gulbarga district to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. In his youth, Patil teamed up with Ramakrishna Hegde and took control of the Congress organisation in the state on Nijalingappa's behalf. Being young and charismatic ministers in Nijalingappa cabinet, they both were referred as 'Lava-Kusha'. When he moved to federal politics, Nijalingappa chose Patil as his successor. Patil's first innings as Chief minister lasted 33 months and 10 days. His control over the state administration dispelled the impression that he was just a dummy for his mentor, Nijalingappa, then the president of the All India Congress Committee. It was during his tenure that the century-old Cauvery water dispute gained ground as Tamil Nadu objected to the irrigation projects in the Cauvery basin. Patil went ahead with the projects even though the Central Water Commission refused to clear them, to protect the interests of the farmers of the south Karnataka region who were heavily dependent on irrigation from Cauvery. Also, It was he who promoted the Karnataka Power Corporation and separated the state electricity board from the responsibility of generating power. However, Patil was also charged with favouring his Lingayat (Banajiga) community. After the Congress split in 1969, Patil's Congress (O) party remained in power in the state until 1971 and crashed to a dismal defeat in the state assembly election in 1972 at the hands of Congress (I). Later, Patil returned to the hub of state politics as chief of the Janata Party's Karnataka state unit. He was also made the sacrificial lamb in the 1978 Lok Sabha by-election in Chikmagalur which featured Indira Gandhi in the fray. Through the often acrimonious campaign, Patil, who was the candidate of the Janata Party, refused to indulge in personal attacks on Indira Gandhi. The same year, he lost his Rajya Sabha seat to Hegde. When he lost the state Janata Party presidency