Bangalore South candidate Nandan Nilekani’s riches have not only brought the limelight on the state’s kuberas, but also made old-timers recall the good old days of the late T R Shamanna, better known as Cycle Shamanna, who was elected to Parliament from the constituency in 1980.
Shamanna, who started his political career as a corporator in Bangalore City Corporation in 1957, was elected to the state assembly four times. In 1980, he was the only non-Congress candidate to win the Parliamentary elections from the state; he had contested as a Janata Party candidate.
Shamanna was a freedom fighter and often called ‘Karnataka’s Gandhi’ for his simple lifestyle. He was often sighted going around the streets of Basavanagudi on a cycle and this earned him the sobriquet ‘Cycle Shamanna’.
He is also remembered by many for leading an agitation for the abolition of cycle tax, water cess and reduction of property tax. As a tribute to Shamanna’s commitment and honesty in public life, the park adjacent to Bugle Rock has been named after him.