Just 3 MLAs in 6 decades

The Gundlupet Assembly constituency in the district has the unique distinction of having been represented by only three persons over the last 60 years, and one among them was a woman, who entered the Assembly seven times.

H K Shivarudrappa, K S Nagarathnamma and H S Mahadevaprasad have represented the constituency in the Assembly in the last six decades. During the first election, Gundlupet was a double-member constituency — including HD Kote — and Shivarudrappa and Siddaiah (Kunaiah), both Independents, were elected in 1952.
The illustrious Nagarathnamma, who also served as the Speaker from 1972 to 78, entered the fray in 1957 as an Independent.

She defeated Shivarudrappa, who was a Congress candidate then, in 1957 and 1962. In 1967, Nagarathnamma joined the Congress and won two consecutive polls (1967 and 72).

In 1978, it was a war between two Independents — Nagarathnamma and Shivarudrappa — and the latter won it by a wafer-thin margin of 271 votes.
In 1983, Nagarathnamma rejoined the Congress and entered the Assembly, beginning her second innings.

She also won the polls in 1985 and 1989.

The present MLA Mahadevaprasad, who has been continously representing the constituency four times after the death of Nagarathnamma, entered the fray in 1985 as a Janata Party candidate and lost. He was defeated in the 1989 polls as a Janata Dal nominee.

In 1993, Nagarathnamma died and the election was held in 1994. Mahadevaprasad, again a Janata Dal candidate, trounced C M Shivamallappa of the Congress. In 1999, Mahadevaprasad won as a JD(U) candidate and in 2004 as a JD(S) candidate.

Four Gram Panchayats of Chamarajanagar taluk were included under Gundlupet Assembly constituency before the 2008 polls, when Mah­adevaprasad contested and won as a Congress nominee.