Treading the beaten path, ex-MLA contests Gram Panchayat polls

Hukrappa had entered Legislative Assembly on BJP ticket in 1983 from Sullia, a reserved constituency. The party found a suitable candidate in Hukrappa who was labouring in an areca garden after completing high school education. He picked up nuances of politics under the guidance of Sangh Parivar and trounced the Congress candidate at the hustings. However, his tenure as MLA didn’t complete the full term as the government collapsed. And with that curtains fell on Hukrappa’s electoral fortune.

The BJP denied ticket to Hukrappa in the next election, and he tasted defeat as a Janata Party candidate. And then came a series of set backs. Hukrappa could not make to Zilla Panchayat. He ran out of luck as Janata Dal candidate in the 1990 Assembly elections. The trail of electoral failures even after he shifted his political loyalty to Karnataka Congress Party floated by Bangarappa. He failed to clinch victory in 1994 Assembly polls.

Hukrappa came a full circle and re-joined BJP later. However, he was relegated to oblivion. Destiny went against Hukrappa as he contested again elections, this time as a JD(S) candidate. He entered Congress corridors. Amid his southward slope, Hukrappa had a break. He won Gram Panchayat elections twice and became a president too.

A financially-weakened Hukrappa is now working as a tapping labourer in a rubber plantation.

People who got favours from him as an MLA have turned back. However, as a ‘Trivikrama’ of the electoral politics, he is now testing his luck in Gram Panchayat polls.