With a ‘mind of his own’, political rebel Kyathasandra Nanjappa Rajanna revels in taking on titans

In what is, admittedly, his last innings in a political career that has lasted five decades, Kyathasandra Nanjappa Rajanna opened a Pandora’s Box when he rose in the Assembly recently to say that attempts were made to honey-trap him.

The sensational claim, which sent tremors across the state’s political landscape, is arguably the biggest headline Rajanna has made in his debut as a Cabinet minister, the highest public office he has held in a career that started way back in 1970 as taluk-level secretary of the Congress.

“Many say Karnataka has a factory (for honey traps),” Rajanna, 73, told the Assembly in his bass-rich voice on March 20. “I have evidence that attempts were made on me.”

This was not Rajanna’s first rendezvous with controversy. Just months after Congress came to power in 2023, Rajanna - a close aide of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah - publicly demanded the appointment of additional deputy chief ministers.

This sparked off his feud with Deputy Chief Minister and Karnataka Congress president D K Shivakumar.

Rajanna was also the protagonist in several other political rows over the past year: a plan to organise a massive rally in favour of Siddaramaiah, attempts to have Shivakumar removed as the party president (a post he himself eyes) and a meet-up of SC/ST leaders.

In fact, Rajanna publicly attacked the high command after it ordered the postponement of the SC/ST leaders’ meeting.

Cooperation

Rajanna, who belongs to the ST (Nayaka) community, joined the cooperation movement after completing his BSc degree from the government science college, Tumakuru, in 1972.

A two-time president of the Apex Bank, Rajanna is also the recipient of the ‘Sahakari Ratna,’ the highest award in the state’s cooperation sector.

However, Rajanna has had to face allegations of corruption. Last year, an activist sought the Governor’s sanction to prosecute Rajanna. In 2019, when Rajanna headed the Apex Bank, the Enforcement Directorate grilled him in connection with a money-laundering probe.

Back to 1984, Rajanna was a district-level Congress leader by the time he earned a law degree from the Vidyodaya Law College.

Rajanna’s first electoral victory came in 1998, when he entered the Legislative Council from the Tumakuru local bodies’ constituency.

Twists

When his MLC term was about to end in 2004, Rajanna wanted to run again.

But S M Krishna, the outgoing chief minister then, had other plans. V S Ugrappa, a fellow ST like Rajanna, got the ticket. Miffed, Rajanna rebelled and ran independently. He lost.

Staring at an uncertain future, Rajanna received political resuscitation from JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda. The regional party gave Rajanna a ticket to contest the 2004 Assembly election from the erstwhile Bellavi segment. Rajanna won.

For the 2008 polls, Rajanna moved back to Congress and contested from Madhugiri in Tumakuru. He lost to D C Gowrishankar of the JD(S).

Rajanna made another attempt to win Madhugiri when Gowrishankar resigned and defected to the BJP. In the bypoll, Gowda fielded his daughter-in-law Anitha Kumaraswamy, who defeated Rajanna. He went on to win Madhugiri in 2013 and 2023.

…and turns

The bypoll defeat, political observers say, left Rajanna itching for vengeance. And, retribution would come 11 years later.

For the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress and JD(S) were alliance partners.

Gowda, the former prime minister, was running from the Tumkur seat. In a huge upset, Gowda lost to BJP’s G S Basavaraj.

There’s a reason why politics is the art of possibilities. In wanting to defeat Gowda, Rajanna helped Basavaraj, the man who virtually ended the career of his political mentor K Lakkappa in the 1980s, it is said.

“Rajanna is one of the few politicians to have survived after taking on the Deve Gowda family,” political analyst Venkatesh Thogarighatta says. “He has managed to have sway in a district that the Gowda family wants to dominate.”

In a 2023 interview, Rajanna admitted to his role in Gowda’s defeat. “The Congress high command and Siddaramaiah asked me to work for Gowda. But I have my own thought process,” he said. “I don’t listen to anybody coming in my way of thinking.”

Rajanna has used the same trope against Shivakumar. When Shivakumar issued a diktat that none should raise party matters publicly, Rajanna was defiant. “I needn’t follow whatever Shivakumar says,” he said. “I have a mind of my own.”