The electoral history of the state is replete with interesting facts and colourful people. Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy, who passed away in 2007, had etched his name in the Guinness Book of World Records for contesting the highest number of elections.Rangaswamy made his electoral debut in 1967 as an independent against the then Railway minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah and went on to contest 86 times over the next four decades, but lost his deposit every time. He was a permanent fixture in almost all the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections till his death.
Rangaswamy had a penchant for taking on top leaders. He also contested against Indira Gandhi in the historic byelection for Chikmagalur in 1978.
Failing to get a ticket from any political party, he floated his own Hotte Paksha(Stomach Party) conveying his motto of fighting hunger. He walked the talk in this regard even when he was an independent releasing his manifesto with food shortage as the main issue.
Condolences poured in when Rangaswamy died as he was an ‘Ajata Shatru’ in the real sense with every political leader admitting that they will miss a real gentleman in politics.
