| Raghunath Vishwanath Deshpande | |
| Birth Date: | 16 March 1947 |
| Birth Place: | Haliyal, Mysore State, (present-day Karnataka, India) |
| Office: | Minister of Revenue Government of Karnataka |
| Term Start: | 8 June 2018 |
| Term End: | 23 July 2019 |
| Predecessor: | Kagodu Thimmappa |
| Successor: | R. Ashoka |
| Office2: | Member of Karnataka Legislative Assembly |
| Term Start2: | 19 May 2018 |
| Constituency2: | Haliyal |
| Party: | Indian National Congress |
| 1Blankname: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata: | H. D. Kumaraswamy |
| Office1: | chairperson of the Administrative Reforms Commission Government of Karnataka |
| 1Blankname1: | Chief Minister |
| 1Namedata1: | Siddaramaiah |
| Term Start1: | 29 Dec 2023 |
| Office3: | Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee President |
| Term Start3: | 2008 |
| Term End3: | 2010 |
Raghunath Vishwanath Deshpande (born 16 March 1947) is an Indian politician who is chairperson of the Administrative Reforms Commission with Cabinet Minister Rank and also was the revenue minister of Karnataka 8 June 2018 to 23 July 2019. Member of the Legislative Assembly for the Haliyal constituency and he was the Minister for Medium & Heavy Industries in the cabinets headed by Siddaramaiah as well as S. M. Krishna.[1] [2]
Raghunath holds B.A. and L.L.B. degrees.[3] He began his political career as the President of the Karnataka State Co-operative Agriculture & Rural Development Bank.
A nine-term MLA,[4] Deshpande started his political career in the Janata Parivar before joining the Indian National Congress in 1999.[5] He served as Industries minister for 13 years between 1994 and 2004 and 2015 to 2018.[6] [7] He is also elected as Protem Speaker of Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
During his tenure as a Minister for Medium and Heavy Industries, he was known for industrial development of Karnataka. And during his stint in Higher Education and Tourism ministry, Deshpande had taken several initiatives for the development of education and tourism in Karnataka. A new draft called the Tourism Trade Facilitation Act was prepared to ensure the safety of tourists coming to the state.[8] [9]