Click here to go to the main page of Star Of Mysore.
Click here to go to the main page of Sri. K.B.Ganapathy.
Please send your opinions, feedbacks, articles to shshenoy at yahoo.com

B. N. Kenge Gowda, a name synonymous to politeness and soft speech. Wonder how he became a politician. I knew him since 1978. When he contested the Chamaraja Assembly seat as a Congress candidate, I was personally against his party, what of the dark shadow of Emergency, but not against him. However, I had to side with his opponent K. Puttaswamy, father of our first Mayor P. Vishwanath. Because of Emergency, I was against Congress and for the first time after the birth of Star of Mysore (16.2.1978) I openly supported the then Janata Party as my duty in the name of democracy.

Puttaswamy won and B. N. Kenge Gowda lost. The leadership of Indira Gandhi and D. Devaraj Urs, the then Chief Minister, did not help. At the Centre, Janata Party came to power. What followed at the Centre and the State thereafter is now history. Devaraj Urs was dumped by Indira for alleged acts of perfidy etc. Janata Government at the Centre collapsed because the different political parties of the alliance, with different ideologies, could not hang together. So they hanged themselves. It was in the next Assembly by - election, due to the death of K. Puttaswamy, B. N. Kenge Gowda won over his opponent H. Kempe Gowda of Janata Party. This time too I backed Janata Party. However, in 1983 H. Kempe Gowda won against B. N. Kenge Gowda in the General Assembly Election.

Be that as it may, as a journalist I knew B. N. Kenge Gowda professionally. I had earlier heard of him more as a man of Municipality politics and social service than as a State politician. He was the Chairman of the then CITB (now MUDA) and rendered yeoman service to Mysoreans like no one did before him. And after him. New layouts were formed; new houses were constructed and fairly distributed without corruption.

I know of at least five persons who recalled how they were able to have a house of their own, thanks to B. N. Kenge Gowda. None of them applied for a site or a house. Nor did they go to his office or house 'begging' for one. Kenge Gowda happened to meet them in some wedding or social function and would ask if they have a house or site. If the reply was in the negative he would make them an offer. If money was a problem, he would advice them about the ways to raise money or offer them easy installment facility.

Those were the days of poor salary and poor income and also days of honesty and morals. Not surprisingly, those were also the days when one could find an honest and sincere person like B. N. Kenge Gowda occupying a position as Chairman of CITB.

If our citizens are a grateful lot then this is the time for them to put up a memorial for him somewhere on D. Devaraj Urs Road, which was his dream project accomplished despite opposition from the vested interests. But for this road it is difficult to imagine the congestion in the present downtown area surrounding K. R. Circle.

It is unfortunate that the authorities buckled under pressure from vested interests and permitted the massive Mall which is now under construction in the Makkaji Chowk which is going to further congest the area to an extent accessing the place itself will be a hellish - experience. With the Town Hall behind, this huge area would have embellished our city with a City Square like those we find in big cities of Europe. But our Planners and Rulers either lacked vision or succumbed to...

I don’t think a leader like B. N. Kenge Gowda would have countenanced such an unwise and retrograde project.

I remember confronting B. N. Kenge Gowda in the Municipal Cattle Pound on New Sayyaji Rao Road, behind the Sahakara Bhavan, one evening at 4 pm. I had been there to cover the impounding of a number of cows straying on roads by the Corporation officials. The owners of the cows were arriving one by one in an agitated mood. And finally a dozen of them arrived there with their leader and “protector” B.N. Kenge Gowda.

As was his wont, he was smiling, eyes twinkling, cool, immaculately dressed in a beige coloured close - coat and trade - mark white Gandhi cap. A true Gandhian. We exchanged greetings. I asked him in Kannada if he had come there to get the animals released. He smiled and gave a reply like a typical politician in Kannada: “No, no. I have come to help these poor people”.

I was quick to respond: That means these cows would be on the roads again tomorrow...

He smiled, his gentle smile. All - knowing smile. "They must eke out a livelihood, Sir. I will ask them not to leave their cows on the roads."

No wonder even now we see stray cattle on our city roads.

A graduate from Maharaja’s College, he joined as a probationary Sub-Inspector of Police in Hassan. But soon he came under Mahatma Gandhi's spell and left the job to join Quit-India Movement. After Independence in 1947 though he was offered the job as Assistant Commissioner of Police, he refused. His contemporary H. Veerabhadraiah had retired as DGP, Karnataka.

He studied law in Belgaum but completed the degree from Sharada Vilas Law College here in Mysore, which he had helped to found in 1953. Well, law and politics mix well in our country like in many countries. Latest example is America where Barack Obama is a Harvard Law graduate.

Kenge Gowda was a Municipal Councillor from 1953 to 1972 and was the President in 1959.

His son B. K. Prakash, following his father's footsteps, was a Corporator and also the Mayor of our city.

Indeed B. N. Kenge Gowda had served our city well during his life - time. Here is my salute to a good man. A good politician.

By K. B. Ganapathy
Courtesy: Star of Mysore