Ramakrishna Hegde is a veteran politician. He was born on August 29, 1927 at Siddapur, Karnataka to Mahabaleshwar Hegde and Saraswati Hegde. He was educated at Kashi Vidyapeeth, Banaras and Lucknow University.
Hegde participated in and was jailed during the Quit India Movement. He was the Deputy Minister in the Government of Karnataka in 1957. He has the distinction of presenting thirteen budgets in the State Assembly. He became the first non-Congress Chief Minister of Karnataka in 1983 and was again elected to the post in 1985. He remained in office till he resigned in 1988. He worked for the unity of the opposition parties before the Janata Dal came into being in 1999.
He was instrumental in bringing the different opposition parties together as a result of which the Janata Dal came into being. He was the Vice-President of the Janata Dal. He is the Founder President of Lok Shakti.