She served the Bharatiya Janata Party organisation in various capacities before being elected as an MLC in 2004. She was elected as MLA from Yeswanthpur, Bangalore in May 2008 and was appointed the minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj in the B S Yeddyurappa govt.
She was lauded for her performance as the RDPR minister[10] and came to be known as a good administrator.[11] She resigned in 2009 due to a political crisis but was re-instated in 2010 and was entrusted with the Energy portfolio. She was the power minister in the Jagadish Shettar ministry[12] and also had the additional charge of the Food and Civil Supplies department. She had resigned from BJP and joined KJP formed by ex Chief Minister of Karnataka B. S. Yediyurappa in the year 2012[13] and was appointed KJP Working President.[14][15] She contested 2013 assembly election from Rajaji Nagar (Vidhan Sabha constituency) and came third.[16] By January 2014 she was back in BJP when her party KJP merged with BJP.