Mysuru: Mysuru-Kodagu (earlier only Mysuru) Lok Sabha Constituency, which has provided two Chief Ministers to the State has another rare distinction that is opposite in nature, with none of the LS MPs getting a Union Cabinet berth. However, two former MPs got the Ministerial berth only as Rajya Sabha (RS) members.

From 1952 till now, 16 general elections have been held with BJP winning thrice, Kisan Mazdoor Praja Paksha (KMPP) once and Congress 12 times from the aforementioned Constituency. In 1952 election, M.S. Gurupadaswamy of KMPP and N. Rachaiah of Congress were elected from the then twin-member Mysuru LS Constituency.

Later on, Gurupadaswamy joined Congress, got elected as Rajya Sabha member and joined the Indira Gandhi Cabinet in 1967 as Minister of State for Atomic Energy and from then on till 1969 held the portfolios of Agriculture, Food and Community Affairs. He was also the Minister for Petroleum in V.P. Singh Cabinet. He was also the Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Leader of the Opposition and Party Whip.

When M. Rajashekar Murthy was elected as LS MP, he could not become a Union Minister. He however joined P.V. Narasimha Rao’s Cabinet as Minister of Surface Transport and Ports as an RS member. Interestingly, both Gurupadaswamy and Rajashekar Murthy hailed from Malangi in T. Narasipur taluk and were said to be relatives.

H.D. Thulasidas Dasappa, son of H.C. Dasappa and Yashodaramma Dasappa (close confidants of Nehru and Indira Gandhi family) was elected thrice from Mysuru LS Constituency successively, but was declined a Ministerial berth. However, his father H.C. Dasappa was elected from Bangalore LS Constituency twice and was the Union Railway Minister.

After Rajashekar Murthy, Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was elected twice to the Lok Sabha from the Congress, but could not become a Minister. Wadiyar joined BJP and Chandraprabha Urs who won on a Congress ticket could not become a Minister. Wadiyar returned to Congress and was re-elected in 1996 and 1999. But as NDA Government was at the Centre, he sat in the Opposition.

Though C.H. Vijayashankar was elected on BJP ticket in 1998 and BJP-led NDA government came to power, the NDA was brought down in just 13 months. Although he was re-elected as a BJP MP in 2004, Congress-led UPA government came to power at the Centre and he was forced to sit in the Opposition.

A.H. Vishwanath was elected in 2009 polls on a Congress ticket. Only six were elected from Karnataka which included bigwigs K.H. Muniyappa, M. Veerappa Moily and M. Mallikarjuna Kharge who got Cabinet berths But Vishwanath could not make it to the Union Cabinet. Later on, Rajya Sabha member Oscar Fernandes joined the Cabinet. Though Pratap Simha was elected in 2014 on a BJP ticket, he could not make it to the Cabinet of NDA Government headed by PM Modi.

(Sourced)

‘Berth’ pangs

• M.S. Gurupadaswamy was a Union Minister thrice as Rajya Sabha member and not as an elected member of the Lok Sabha.
• M. Rajashekar Murthy too became a Union Minister as a Rajya Sabha member and not as a Lok Sabha member.
• H.D. Thulasidas Dasappa was elected thrice to Lok Sabha but was declined a Ministerial berth.
• Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar was elected four times to Lok Sabha but failed to become a Minister (Non-Congress Government was in power twice).
• Chandraprabha Urs who was elected on a Congress ticket too could not become a Minister.
• C.H. Vijayashankar was elected twice, but also failed to get a Cabinet berth.
• A.H. Vishwanath had to make room for senior Congressmen to get into the Cabinet.
• First time MP Pratap Simha too failed to become a Minister in PM Modi’s Cabinet.