Sarekoppa Vasanth Kumar, also known as Kumar Bangarappa (born 28 September 1963) is an Indian actor and politician known for his works primarily in Kannada cinema and few Telugu language films. He is known for the action, stunts and villainous roles.[1][2]
Kumar Bangarappa is an Indian actor in Kannada films. He was the youngest member of the legislature as well as the youngest minister of Karnataka state in former Chief Minister of Karnataka S. M. Krishna's cabinet.[3]
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Kumar Bangarappa was born on 28 September 1963 to S. Bangarappa, former Chief Minister of Karnataka and Shakuntala. He married Vidyullatha and has a son Arjun Bangarappa and a daughter Lavanya. Arjun has completed his Civil Engineering and has been getting many offers for acting since a very young age and will be debuting in 2025. Lavanya has completed her Biomedical Engineering and married to a Hyderabad family.[3][4]
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He entered politics dramatically in 1996 after a stint as a film actor donning lead roles in many Kannada films. He was asked to contest the by-election to fill the vacancy in the Soraba constituency of Shimoga district - which his father represented from 1967 to 1994 - seven times in a row - till he got elected to the Lok Sabha, making way for his son. He was elected to Legislative Assembly of Karnataka in the Karnataka Congress Party, a regional political party founded by his father in 1994 after he was asked to resign as Chief Minister.[5][6]
He was again elected from the same assembly constituency in 1999 as a Congress candidate after the merger of Karnataka Congress Party with Congress for second-term. He won as MLA from Soraba constituency on INC for third-term successively in 2004 election. He was inducted into S.M. Krishna government as minister of state for Municipal Administration (Independent Charge). Prior to that, he also worked as Minister of State for Minor Irrigation. For a few days, he resigned Indian National Congress party and joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for 20 days to revert Congress again.[2][7][8][9][10]
He lost in the 2008 election on the Congress ticket, including his brother - Madhu Bangarappa on Samajwadi Party ticket, to Hartalu Halappa from BJP.[11][12][13]
He is now elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) in the Government of Karnataka for the 2018 Legislative Assembly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he won by defeating his brother Madhu Bangarappa by a huge margin of 13,500 votes by getting 72,000 votes.[citation needed]
He entered politics as a stranger from the film industry without wielding any influence, even when his father was Chief Minister; however, a rift in the family developed ahead of the 2004 elections, when his younger brother Madhu Bangarappa wanted to contest only from Soraba and not from any other constituency even when the family did not want him to upsurge a family rift, on promise father S Bangarappa had to go against the wish of people and Kumar Bangarappa taking stance for the younger son Madhu. While Kumar stayed away from politics for a few weeks thousands of people wanted him to contest and on the request of them he had to make a political decision to contest against his own brother on a congress ticket while Madhu on the BJP ticket, and retained the seat with a huge margin of 24,000 votes, it was the first time that S. Bangarappa was defeated though his own son had won.[14] At one stage, he even resigned Congress and left his minister of state portfolio to join BJP as per the directions of his father and returned to Congress soon when he felt uncomfortable in the BJP camp, bringing the family feud matters into the open public.[7] The family feud grew till Bangarappa and both his sons lost the elections, including the continuance of disturbances between both the brothers during the family ritual celebrations after the death of S. Bangarappa.[5][15][16][17]
| Year | Title | Role(s) | Note(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Antar Yuddham | Telugu film | |
| 1989 | Vijayotsava | ||
| 1989 | Sharavegada Saradara | Tejaswi | |
| 1990 | Ashwamedha | Raja / Vinu | |
| 1991 | Theja | ||
| 1991 | Navathare | ||
| 1992 | Jhenkara | ||
| 1992 | Amara Prema | Also playback singer | |
| 1992 | Purushotthama | Narrator | |
| 1992 | Ksheera Sagara | ||
| 1992 | Belliyappa Bangarappa | Bettangeri Belliyappa / Himself | |
| 1993 | Apoorva Jodi | ||
| 1993 | Angaiyalli Apsare | ||
| 1994 | Keralida Sarpa | ||
| 1996 | Nirbandha | ||
| 1999 | Chaithrada Chiguru | ||
| 2003 | Raktha Kanneeru | Balu | |
| 2004 | Thali Kattuva Shubhavele | Jeevan | |
| 2017 | Chakravarthy | Sharad Shetty | |
| 2023 | Terror- filming | Aditya father |
Former minister and son of former chief minister S Bangarappa – actor turned politician Kumar Bangarappa is all set to launch the historical film Keladhi Shivappa Nayaka
Kumar Bangarappa, son of former Karnataka Chief Minister S. Bangarappa and former Minister in the S.M. Krishna Government and a Member of the Karnatakas assembly(MLA) presently after he defeated his brother Madhu Bangarappa
Kumar Bangarappa (also politician and actor) - launch of his son and daughter – Arjun and Lavayna on stage as singers in Hindustani style - 'Sri Renukamba Editing studio and recently come up Srigandha preview hall' at Lavanya towers in Malleswaram 18th cross were inaugurated by former chief minister S.Bangarappa and his wife - Bangarppa lauded his grand daughter Lavanya and grandson Arjun for good voice they have.
Kumar Bangarappa has Rs 12 lakh cash, Rs 4,90,481 bank deposits, jewellery worth Rs 7,07,600, Rs 1,74,90,692 claims, agriculture land worth Rs 14,28,899 and buildings worth Rs 2,75,43,801. His wife Vidyullatha is in possession of Rs 3 lakh cash, Rs 18,000 bank deposit and Rs 20,10,504 claim, the total worth of which is Rs 23,28,504.
Known as a mild and gentle person, Mr. Kumar Bangarappa makes a striking contrast to his father, who is assertive. He had a brief stint as a film actor and donned the main roles in many Kannada films. He was a stranger to politics and never wielded influence even when his father was the Chief Minister.
The former chief minister has won the elections from this constituency seven times in a row, between 1967 and 1994, before making way for his sons.
Kumar Bangarappa has decided to quit the Bharatiya Janata Party just 20 days after he joined it.
On the recommendation of the Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna, the Governor T N Chaturvedi, has accepted the resignation submitted by the Minister of State for Municipal Administration (Independent Charge) Kumar Bangarappa.
An emotional Rajkumar arrives at the Vidhana Soudha on his return to Bangalore on 16 November to a popular welcome. His son Raghavendra Rajkumar, son-in-law and Karnataka's Minister of State for Minor Irrigation Kumar Bangarappa are in the photograph
Minister of state for minor irrigation kumar bangarappa found himself on a sticky wicket on sunday when a poser about the vishwa scheme launched by his father was hurled at him.
Kumar Bangarappa belongs to the Congress party and was competing against his real brother, Madhu Bangarappa of Samajwadi Party.
It is all in the family for the Bangarappas. While Bangarappa senior is taking on B S Yeddyurappa [ Images ] at Shikaripura, his sons are battling hard for his legacy. Kumar and Madhu Bangarappa, from the Congress and the Samajwadi Party respectively, are competing against each other at the Soraba constituency in Shimoga -- 38 km from Shikaripura.
The former Minister and Congress candidate for the Soraba Assembly seat, Kumar Bangarappa, has taken exception to his father and the former Chief Minister, S. Bangarappa, bringing family matters into the open. - Mr. Kumar Bangarappa said he left the Congress and joined the BJP as per the directions of his father. "But I rejoined the Congress not because I was denied the BJP ticket but because I became uncomfortable in the BJP camp," he said.
Addressing the media over a few supporters of Madhu Bangarappa stopping him from offering pooja at the spot where his father was cremated, Kumar said that this was because he was with the Congress. "Is having an individual ideology and commitment wrong?" he asked."Had I reacted adversely during the last rites, it would have disrupted the entire function. My relatives could have doused the situation, but they did not. As a son, there are many rituals that I have to follow. Hence, I have come here with my family," he said.
Bangarappa's fans, who have rallied behind their icon's younger son Madhu, have shown their impatience towards elder son Kumar Bangarappa. The situation turned ugly on Wednesday 28 December at Kubatoor in Sorab taluk in the district, where Kumar Bangarappa had arrived to perform puja ritual to the ashes of his father. The police had to resort to light lathi charge to bring the situation under control.
