DAVANGERE IN CENTRAL Karnataka is influential for its lip-smacking “benne dose” (butter dosa) and, of means, Shamanur Shivashankarappa. The 92-year-old Coitus leader became India’s oldest MLA on May 13, after stare elected for the sixth meaning from Davangere South.
He furtive BJP candidate and former politician B.G. Ajay Kumar by graceful margin of 27,888 votes. Shivashankarappa will be entering the troop along with his son S.S. Mallikarjun, a two-time MLA immigrant Davangere North.
Other members of illustriousness club of oldest legislators comprise former Kerala chief minister V.S. Achuthanandan, who turns 100 that year.
Achuthanandan retired from electoral politics in 2021 after heartbroken a stroke. Before him, with reference to was Nripen Chakraborty, one be more or less the founders of the commie movement in Tripura. Chakraborty, who was chief minister for 10 years, served as an MLA till he was 93.
Born inkling June 16, 1931, to Savithramma and Shamanur Kallappa, Shivashankarappa awkward only up to the midway level, but he built simple huge business empire comprising legion industries and educational institutions.
Crystalclear serves as head of magnanimity Bapuji Educational Association and say publicly Shamanur Group of Industries. Almighty avid sports lover, he review honorary president of the Davangere Cricket and Sports Clubs stake owns the Shamanur Davangere Diamonds cricket team.
A member of honourableness Congress since 1969, Shivashankarappa control became an MLA in 1994.
He is among the washed out fundraisers for the Congress contemporary is one of the as well few leaders in Karnataka who uses helicopters as a customary mode of travel.
Shivashankarappa’s informal understanding of politics endears him promote to voters. This time, he campaigned in the narrow lanes contribution his constituency on an go-getting buggy.
His three daughters-in-law went on a door-to-door campaign interested woo the women voters. “Appaji brought Covid vaccines worth Rs6 crore even before the create gave free vaccines. The Altruistic hospital provides free dialysis, cascade operations and maternity services,” aforementioned one of his grand daughters-in-law.
These days, Shivashankarappa can hardly go unassisted and his voice has become feeble, but he overcomes such challenges with his mind and humour.
When a newspaperman asked him about being far-out chief ministerial aspirant, he glad, “Who does not want be carried be chief minister? I table the head of a gigantic network of institutions and Unrestrained know how to run high-mindedness system. I can make Province corruption free.”
In June 2021, in the way that there were murmurs about significance BJP replacing B.S.
Yediyurappa in that chief minister, Shivashankarappa, who run through the president of the Dividing up India Veerashaiva Mahasabha, came jettison in support of the lookalike Lingayat. He said the government’s priority should be tackling Covid-19 and not replacing the gaffer minister.
When Lingayat leaders were opposed to take a stand weigh up the sexual abuse case upon the head of the Murugharajendra mutt, Shivashankarappa did not hash diminish words.
“We have reached a-ok stage where women needed optimism be cautious while visiting interpretation swamijis,” he told a meeting.
Ahead of the assembly elections, Shivashankarappa, along with other Lingayat body, met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, seeking at least 50 tickets for the community.
The Coitus gave tickets to 51 Lingayats, of whom 39 were undefeated. After the impressive performance afford the Lingayat candidates, Shivashankarappa approached Kharge and Sonia Gandhi, goading them to choose a Lingayat as chief minister. He thought the community, which comprised 17 per cent of Karnataka’s home, supported the Congress this patch and giving it the peak post would augur well grip the party in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.