Kengal Hanumanthaiah (14 February 1908 – 1 December 1980), also spelt as Kengal Hanumanthaiya, was the second Chief Minister of Karnataka (then, Mysore State) from 30 March 1952 to 19 August 1956. He contributed to the construction of

Vidhana Soudha Vidhana Soudha () in Bangalore, India, is the seat of the state legislature of Karnataka. It is constructed in a style described as '' Neo-Dravidian'', and incorporates elements of various Dravidian styles. Construction was started in 1952 ...

, the seat of the state legislature.

Early life

Hanumanthaiah was born on 14 February 1908, in a Vokkaliga family in a Lakkappanahalli, a small village near Ramanagara, Ramanagara District. He graduated in Arts from the Maharaja College in Mysore 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.

Political career

At that time, the independence movement was steadily growing and at the center stage of the movement was the Indian National Congress led by Mahatma Gandhi. Dr. P. Tandon, the then President of Indian 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. 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 the Constituent Assembly of India. He became the second Chief minister of Mysore state in 1952, following the victory of the Congress party in the 1st general elections. His tenure as Chief Minister was marked by activities aimed at uplifting the rural population of the state and promoting economic growth. 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 the

Unification of Karnataka The Unification of Karnataka refers to the formation of the Indian state of Karnataka (then named Mysore State) in 1956 when several Indian states were created by redrawing borders based on linguistic demographics. Decades earlier, during Brit ...

. He played a role in uniting the Kannada speaking areas within the boundaries of a single state.

Role in Constituent Assembly

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. In the Constituent Assembly, he argued for greater autonomy for states.

Vidhana Soudha

During an interview, Kengal Hanumanthaiah explained the reasoning behind the construction of a grand legislature building. A Russian cultural delegation was visiting Bangalore 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 in Karnataka.

Later life

After resigning as Chief Minister shortly before the Unification of Karnataka in 1956, he moved on to national politics. He was continuously elected as a member of parliament representing Bangalore city from 1962 to 1977. He was member of the 3rd (1962), 4th (1967) and 5th (1971) Loksabha. 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 poet

Gopalkrishna Adiga Mogeri Gopalakrishna Adiga (1918–1992) was a modern Kannada poet. He is known by some commentators as the "pioneer of New style" poetry. The Hindu - 26 September 2002 Biography He was born in an orthodox brahmin family in coastal village of ...

, who was a candidate of the

Jana Sangh The Bharatiya Jana Sangh ( BJS or JS, short name: Jan Sangh, full name: Akhil Bharatiya Jana Sangh; ) ( ISO 15919: '' Akhila Bhāratīya Jana Saṅgha '' ) was an Indian right wing political party that existed from 1951 to 1977 and was the po ...

. However, he lost to Justice K. S. Hegde of the Janata party in 1977. He died on 1 December 1980.

Legacy

The

Kengal Hanumanthaiya Memorial Trust The Kengal Hanumanthaiya Memorial Trust is a non-profit Charitable Trust that is dedicated to the ideals of Kengal Hanumanthaiya, the first elected Chief Minister of Karnataka, India, and the second to hold that position after KC Reddy who was ...

celebrated his 104th birthday in 2012 which had the Chief Guest, the 13th President (then Finance Minister), Pranab Mukherjee. A major road in Bangalore called Double Road near Lalbagh is renamed as Kengal Hanumanthiah Road. A statue of Hanumanthaiah has been installed in front of the Vidhana Soudha. His centenary celebrations were held in the year 2008. The Kengeri TTMC junction in Bangalore is named as "Shri Kengal Hanumanthaiah Transport Junction."

References

External links

A short video on the life and times of Kengal Hanumanthiah by Department of Information and Broadcasting, Karnataka
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanumanthaiah, Kengal 1908 births 1980 deaths Politicians from Bangalore Kannada people India MPs 1962–1967 Maharaja's College, Mysore alumni Members of the Constituent Assembly of India India MPs 1967–1970 India MPs 1971–1977 Lok Sabha members from Karnataka Chief ministers from Indian National Congress Indian National Congress politicians Chief Ministers of Karnataka Chief ministers of Indian states Railway Ministers of India Law Ministers of India Members of the Cabinet of India