 He was elected member of Karnataka legislative assembly from Hunsur in 1994.In 1998, he was elected to the 12th Lok Sabha from Mysore Lok Sabha constituency.He was re-elected to Mysore Lok Sabha constituency in 2004 against Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar, who was the prince of Mysore Kingdom and head of the Wadiyar dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Mysore between 1399 and 1950.