Kengal Hanumanthaiah ಕೆಂಗಲ್ ಹನುಮಂತಯ್ಯ | |
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| 2ndChief Minister of Mysore State | |
| In office 30 March 1952 – 19 August 1956 | |
| Preceded by | K. C. Reddy |
| Succeeded by | Kadidal Manjappa |
| Member of theIndian Parliament forBangalore | |
| In office 17 March 1967 – 18 January 1977 | |
| Preceded by | H. C. Dasappa |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Member of theIndian Parliament forBangalore City | |
| In office 2 April 1962 – 16 March 1967 | |
| Preceded by | N. Keshavaiengar |
| Succeeded by | Constituency Abolished |
| Member ofConstituent Assembly of India | |
| In office 9 December 1946 – 24 January 1950 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1908-02-14)14 February 1908 |
| Died | 1 December 1980(1980-12-01) (aged 72) |
| Party | Surajya Party(From Sep 1977) |
| Other political affiliations |
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Kengal Hanumanthaiah (10 February 1908 – 1 December 1980), also spelt asKengal Hanumanthaiya, was the secondChief Minister ofKarnataka (then,Mysore State) from 30 March 1952 to 19 August 1956. He contributed to the construction ofVidhana Soudha, the seat of the state legislature.
Hanumanthaiah was born on 10 February 1908, in aVokkaliga family in a Lakkappanahalli, a small village nearRamanagara,Ramanagara District. He graduated in Arts from theMaharaja College inMysore in 1930 and later earned a degree in Law from Poona Law College in 1932. During his college days, he was elected as the Secretary of the Students Union and the Karnataka Sangha. After his graduation, he joined the bar council in the same year.[1]
At that time, the independence movement was steadily growing and at the center stage of the movement was theIndian National Congress led byMahatma Gandhi. Dr. P. Tandon, the then President ofIndian National Congress, advised Hanumanthaiah to give up his active practice at the bar and to devote himself to the freedom struggle. With the inspiration of Gandhiji and the persuasion of Tandon, Hanumanthaiah joined the freedom movement and became active in the then Mysore Congress. During the movement, he was jailed more than 7 times.[2] He was unanimously elected as the leader of the Parliamentary Party wing of the Congress Party in Mysore Assembly in the year 1948. Also, he was a member of theConstituent Assembly of India.[citation needed]
He became the secondChief minister of Mysore state in 1952, following the victory of the Congress party in the1st general elections. His tenure as Chief Minister was marked by activities aimed at uplifting the rural population of the state and promoting economic growth.[3]Hanumanthaiah's major achievement was the construction of the "Vidhana Soudha", the largest legislature-cum-office building in India at that time. His other key achievement was theUnification of Karnataka. He played a role in uniting the Kannada speaking areas within the boundaries of a single state.[citation needed]
He was part of the Committee for the Drafting of a Model Constitution for the Indian States and made interventions on the issue of federalism.[2][4][5] In the Constituent Assembly, he argued for greater autonomy for states.[6]
During an interview, Kengal Hanumanthaiah explained the reasoning behind the construction of a grand legislature building. A Russian cultural delegation was visitingBangalore and Hanumanthaiah took them around to show the city. Stung by their comments, Hanumanthaiah vowed to create a monument so magnificent that it would showcase the best of Karnataka's indigenous architectural style. This resulted in the Vidhana Soudha, the seat of Legislature inKarnataka.[7]
After resigning asChief Minister shortly before the Unification ofKarnataka in 1956, he moved on to national politics. He was continuously elected as a member of parliament representingBangalore city from 1962 to 1967 and representedBangalore from 1967 to 1977. He was member of the 3rd (1962), 4th (1967) and 5th (1971) Loksabha.[2] During this period he served as minister in the Union cabinet handling a number of portfolios such as Railways, Industries etc. In the 1971 elections, he defeated the poetGopalkrishna Adiga, who was a candidate of theJana Sangh. However, he lost to JusticeK. S. Hegde of theJanata party in 1977. He died on 1 December 1980.
TheKengal Hanumanthaiya Memorial Trust celebrated his 104th birthday in 2012 which had the Chief Guest, the 13th President (then Finance Minister), Pranab Mukherjee.[8]
A major road in Bangalore calledDouble Road nearLalbagh is renamed as Kengal Hanumanthiah Road.[9]A statue of Hanumanthaiah has been installed in front of the Vidhana Soudha.[10] His centenary celebrations were held in the year 2008.[11]
TheKengeri TTMC junction in Bangalore is named as "Shri Kengal Hanumanthaiah Transport Junction."
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Chief Minister of Mysore State 1952–1956 | Succeeded by |
