BANGALORE: Sarekoppa Bangarappa, who entered the state’s political scene through the Socialist Movement in the late 1960s under the leadership of renowned socialist S Gopala Gowda, served as the chief minister only for a brief period of 25 months, but left an indelible mark as an astute administrator.The rebellious leader who narrowly missed his chance to become the CM in 1980 to R Gundu Rao and once again in 1983 to Ramakrishna Hegde, was elevated to the post in 1990 after the then AICC president Rajiv Gandhi announced the party’s decision to bring in a change of guard by replacing the incumbent CM Veerendra Patil who fell ill. A multi-faceted politician, Bangarappa always championed the cause of the Backward Classes and introduced several social and economic measures, which came along with the political philosophy he had professed.His nature to reach out to people, protect his loyalists and his concern for the downtrodden, flamboyant lifestyle and never-say-die attitude made Bangarappa a distinctive personality among the state’s political class. For the first time in the state, he allocated funds to rejuvenate all shrines and temples of deities which were being worshiped by those from the lower strata of the society, under the unique programme ‘Aaradhana’.The much-hyped ‘Vishwa’ scheme was launched to support a large number of small and medium enterprises and cottage industries in the state by ensuring marketing facilities for the products manufactured by them.The ‘Ashraya’ scheme was introduced to provide shelter and housing sites to the homeless. His enthusiasm to champion the causes of the people and the state, however, earned the wrath of both his admirers and critics.His decision to pass the Karnataka Cauvery Basin Irrigation Protection Ordinance, taking away the jurisdiction of courts, including the Supreme Court, over state’s decision on utilisation of the Cauvery waters, drew sharp criticism from the Judiciary as well.The Ordinance, however, was struck down by the SC when the matter was referred to it by the then President R Venkataraman.The Cauvery riots witnessed during his tenure and the subsequent attacks on Tamilians and the failure of the police brought disrepute upon him.Bangarappa had rebelled against former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao for ignoring his demands when he was in the Congress.
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