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D. Devaraj Urs
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D. Devaraj Urs
Devaraj Devaraj Arasu (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80). He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka in terms of days of tenure in office. He is the only person to serve as Chief Minister of both erstwhile Mysuru state and renamed Karnataka state. He entered politics in 1952 and was an MLA for 10 years. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 as Samstha (Congress(O)) and Indira Congress (Congress (R)), he stood with Indira Gandhi. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka (fifth Assembly) for the first time from 20 March 1972 to 31 December 1977 and again from 17 March 1978 to 8 June 1980 (sixth Assembly).
D. Devaraj Arasu was born at Kallahalli Hunsur Taluk, Mysore district, the then Kingdom of Mysore. His father, also named Devaraj Arasu, was a land-owner and his mother, Devira Ammanni, was a pious and traditional lady. His younger brother, Kemparaj was an actor. The family belonged to the Arasu community and were very distant relatives to the Wodeyar royal family.
Arasu was married to 11-year-old Chikkammanni (or Chikka Ammani), a girl from his own community and from a suitable family, in a match arranged by their parents when he was almost 15. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. They had three daughters – Chandra Prabha, Nagrathna and Bharathi.
Arasu had his primary and high school education at the Arasu Boarding School in Mysore, which had been set up by the Maharaja of Mysore expressly to provide suitable education to the sons of the Arasu community, to equip them for higher responsibilities in their adulthood. After passing school, Arasu studied at the Central College in Bengaluru and took a BSc Degree. After completing his education, Arasu returned to Kallahalli and engaged himself in agriculture, overseeing the extensive lands owned by his family.
Arasu entered politics in 1952 by contesting the first elections held in the country after it attained independence. At this time, the Maharaja was still the head of state in Mysore (until 1956), the state retained the same boundaries as before independence, and the Arasu community was entrenched in the countryside due to centuries of ties with village communities.[citation needed] Arasu was elected from Hunasuru constituency to the state legislature and served as a member of the legislative assembly for ten years (two successive terms). As the Indian National Congress party leader from Mysore State, Arasu was a member of the intra-party "Syndicate" of powerful regional leaders. However, he was never as antagonistic towards Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as other leaders of the Syndicate, such as K. Kamaraj. When the first Congress split took place in 1969, and the Syndicate formed the Congress (O) ('O' for "Organization") while Indira Gandhi formed the Congress (R), he chose to abandon the Syndicate and go with Indira Gandhi.
The Congress (O), under S. Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil, Ramakrishna Hegde and Deve Gowda dominated Karnataka electorally and had a majority in the state assembly. Arasu led the Congress (R) in the state and helped win all the 27 seats at the 1971 Lok Sabha elections. Under his leadership Congress(R) won 165/216 seats in the 1972 legislative assembly elections, thus garnering more than 75% of the seats. Congress(O) came a distant second with 24 seats. Independents won 20 seats. CPI won 3 while BJS, the earlier avatar of BJP, stood second in 16 seats, winning none. He was chief minister of Karnataka for the full term of the assembly from 1972 to December 1977. In January 1978, he joined Congress (I) as Mrs Gandhi split the party yet again. The new party won the assembly elections in February 1978 and Arasu was appointed Chief Minister. But in 1979, he left Congress(I) following differences with Indira Gandhi, and joined the other Congress faction, Congress (S). He continued to be CM as many MLAs joined him. The other Congress faction was even known as Congress (Arasu) briefly when he became its president. But in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, his party won just one seat in Karnataka. Most MLAs in his camp deserted him to re-join Congress(I) and Gundu Rao became Chief Minister in January 1980. Arasu then formed the Karnataka Kranti Ranga in 1982, a few months before his death.
Devaraj Arasu tenure is particularly remembered for his reforms that targeted the depressed classes of Karnataka, namely the scheduled castes and the other backward castes.[citation needed]
In response to the prime minister's declaration that poverty was her first priority ("Garibi Hatao!") and her Twenty-Point Programme, Arasu formed a state cabinet dominated by technocrats and academics. His priority was land reform, and his slogan was "Land to the tiller"; under him a sustained effort was made to equalize the land distribution through much of the state. Karnataka, thus, other than the communist bastions of Kerala and West Bengal, has had one of the most successful land redistributions in the country. A side-effect of this was to break the hold of the previously dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes over local politics. He was helped in his endeavours by his colleagues Huchamasti Gowda, B Subbayya Shetty and others from his cabinet.
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D. Devaraj Urs
Devaraj Devaraj Arasu (20 August 1915 – 6 June 1982) was an Indian politician who served two terms as the Chief Minister of Karnataka (1972–77, 1978–80). He is also the longest serving Chief Minister of Karnataka in terms of days of tenure in office. He is the only person to serve as Chief Minister of both erstwhile Mysuru state and renamed Karnataka state. He entered politics in 1952 and was an MLA for 10 years. When the Indian National Congress split in 1969 as Samstha (Congress(O)) and Indira Congress (Congress (R)), he stood with Indira Gandhi. He became the Chief Minister of Karnataka (fifth Assembly) for the first time from 20 March 1972 to 31 December 1977 and again from 17 March 1978 to 8 June 1980 (sixth Assembly).
D. Devaraj Arasu was born at Kallahalli Hunsur Taluk, Mysore district, the then Kingdom of Mysore. His father, also named Devaraj Arasu, was a land-owner and his mother, Devira Ammanni, was a pious and traditional lady. His younger brother, Kemparaj was an actor. The family belonged to the Arasu community and were very distant relatives to the Wodeyar royal family.
Arasu was married to 11-year-old Chikkammanni (or Chikka Ammani), a girl from his own community and from a suitable family, in a match arranged by their parents when he was almost 15. The marriage proved to be harmonious and conventional. They had three daughters – Chandra Prabha, Nagrathna and Bharathi.
Arasu had his primary and high school education at the Arasu Boarding School in Mysore, which had been set up by the Maharaja of Mysore expressly to provide suitable education to the sons of the Arasu community, to equip them for higher responsibilities in their adulthood. After passing school, Arasu studied at the Central College in Bengaluru and took a BSc Degree. After completing his education, Arasu returned to Kallahalli and engaged himself in agriculture, overseeing the extensive lands owned by his family.
Arasu entered politics in 1952 by contesting the first elections held in the country after it attained independence. At this time, the Maharaja was still the head of state in Mysore (until 1956), the state retained the same boundaries as before independence, and the Arasu community was entrenched in the countryside due to centuries of ties with village communities.[citation needed] Arasu was elected from Hunasuru constituency to the state legislature and served as a member of the legislative assembly for ten years (two successive terms). As the Indian National Congress party leader from Mysore State, Arasu was a member of the intra-party "Syndicate" of powerful regional leaders. However, he was never as antagonistic towards Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as other leaders of the Syndicate, such as K. Kamaraj. When the first Congress split took place in 1969, and the Syndicate formed the Congress (O) ('O' for "Organization") while Indira Gandhi formed the Congress (R), he chose to abandon the Syndicate and go with Indira Gandhi.
The Congress (O), under S. Nijalingappa, Veerendra Patil, Ramakrishna Hegde and Deve Gowda dominated Karnataka electorally and had a majority in the state assembly. Arasu led the Congress (R) in the state and helped win all the 27 seats at the 1971 Lok Sabha elections. Under his leadership Congress(R) won 165/216 seats in the 1972 legislative assembly elections, thus garnering more than 75% of the seats. Congress(O) came a distant second with 24 seats. Independents won 20 seats. CPI won 3 while BJS, the earlier avatar of BJP, stood second in 16 seats, winning none. He was chief minister of Karnataka for the full term of the assembly from 1972 to December 1977. In January 1978, he joined Congress (I) as Mrs Gandhi split the party yet again. The new party won the assembly elections in February 1978 and Arasu was appointed Chief Minister. But in 1979, he left Congress(I) following differences with Indira Gandhi, and joined the other Congress faction, Congress (S). He continued to be CM as many MLAs joined him. The other Congress faction was even known as Congress (Arasu) briefly when he became its president. But in the 1980 Lok Sabha elections, his party won just one seat in Karnataka. Most MLAs in his camp deserted him to re-join Congress(I) and Gundu Rao became Chief Minister in January 1980. Arasu then formed the Karnataka Kranti Ranga in 1982, a few months before his death.
Devaraj Arasu tenure is particularly remembered for his reforms that targeted the depressed classes of Karnataka, namely the scheduled castes and the other backward castes.[citation needed]
In response to the prime minister's declaration that poverty was her first priority ("Garibi Hatao!") and her Twenty-Point Programme, Arasu formed a state cabinet dominated by technocrats and academics. His priority was land reform, and his slogan was "Land to the tiller"; under him a sustained effort was made to equalize the land distribution through much of the state. Karnataka, thus, other than the communist bastions of Kerala and West Bengal, has had one of the most successful land redistributions in the country. A side-effect of this was to break the hold of the previously dominant Lingayat and Vokkaliga castes over local politics. He was helped in his endeavours by his colleagues Huchamasti Gowda, B Subbayya Shetty and others from his cabinet.
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