TUMAKURU: In an extraordinary gesture, a farmer sold off the copra produce from his farm and used the money to lay a road across a 400 metre stretch and filled potholes on a road in Hagalavadi hobli of Gubbi taluk in Tumakuru district.
The farmer, Arehalli Nanjegowda Nataraju (53), a graduate and a former Gram Panchayat member spent Rs 1.5 lakh from his hard earned money for the work. The relaying of the road was hanging fire since two decades as no elected representative came forward to get it done. In fact, the farmer decided to take up the work after a Revenue Department peon Narayanappa (54) died on the road in a head-on collision between two motorcyles when both bikers were trying to negotiate a pothole on Shivanehalli Road.
Nataraju, who has now become a local hero, is now being encouraged by the residents, cutting across communities, to be promoted to the next level to either the Taluk Panchayat (TP) or Zilla Panchayat(ZP). They have started lobbying for him with the JDS, the party to which he belongs, to give him a ticket to contest the polls.
“Local MP G S Basavaraju who hails from Shivanehalli village and local MLA S R Srinivas ignored our demands to fix the road when we brought the matter to their notice several times”, rued S Shadakshari, a resident.
Interestingly, when the GP results were announced during December 2020, Nataraju lost to his rival Ajay by one vote. “I moved the Gubbi civil court that gave its judgment in Sept 2022 in my favour as the concerned returning officer had counted some 20 to 25 invalid votes in Ajay’s favour. So, now that am I elected to the GP, I am trying to keep up the promises I made during the elections and will continue to serve the people of the village”, he told TNIE.
“Nataraju’s contribution is commendable. He has become a role model for us”, said former GP member Nagaraju of Madenahalli village in the taluk.