Nine MLAs made hat-trick record in Mysuru region

At a time when the issue of anti-incumbency crops up whenever there is an election, the list of people's representatives, who have hit hat-trick victories in the district is quite a long one.

While there have been numerous politicians, who have recorded two consecutive victories in elections, nine persons have entered the hat-trick list - D Devaraja Urs, K Puttaswamy, Azeez Sait, Tanveer Sait, M Rajasekhar Murthy, H C Mahadevappa, H S Shankaralingegowda, K Venkatesh and R Peeranna. Unfortunately, some leaders like Chief Minister Siddaramaiah have won more than three times, some persons up to seven times, but they have failed to hit a hat-trick.

Siddaramaiah has won a total of seven elections from two constituencies - Chamundeshwari (1983, 1985, 1994, 2004 and 2006), Varuna (2008 and 2013).

Among the hat-trick record holders, K Puttaswamy won five elections in a row (1957, 1962, 1967, 1972 and 1978), though he shifted from the Mysuru taluk constituency (now named Chamundeshwari) to the new Chamaraja constituency in 1978. Azeez Sait (1967, 1972, 1978 and 1983), won four elections continuously and he did not contest the fifth election as he had been elected as the MP by that time. His son Tanveer Sait also won four elections in a row (2002, 2004, 2008 and 2013). The father and son duo won from the Narasimharaja constituency. The senior Sait won again in 1989 and 1999.

The first hat-trick record makers of the district were K Puttaswamy and D Devaraja Urs. In fact, Urs won four elections in a row from 1952 up to 1967 in Hunsur constituency. After a break in 1972, he won a by-election the same year and won the 1978 polls also.

In T Narsipur constituency, M Rajasekhar Murthy (1957, 1962, 1967 and 1972) and Mahadevappa (2004, 2008 and 2013) are the record holders. Earlier, Mahadevappa had won in 1985 and 1994. However, he was Janata Party MLA once, Janata Dal MLA once, JD(S) MLA once and Congress MLA twice.

In a rare case for the Mysuru region, where the BJP is yet to find a firm ground, the late H S Shankaralingegowda, who crossed over from the Janata Dal was able to hold on to the Chamaraja constituency from 1994 up to 2008. He lost the 2013 polls.

K Venkatesh, who had won the 1985 (Janata Party) and 1994 (Janata Dal) polls in Periyapatna recorded a hat-trick in 2004, 2008 and 2013 polls. He was in the JD(S) in 2004, before joining the Congress in 2008. In HD Kote, R Peeranna, a Swatantra Party MLA in 1962, crossed over to the Congress and won the polls in 1967 and 1972.

There have been no hat-trick records in KR Nagar, Nanjangud and Krishnaraja constituencies. In KR Nagar, S Nanjappa and A H Vishwanath have won three elections each, with breaks.

In Nanjangud also, M Mahadev and D T Jayakumar won thrice, but with breaks. V Srinivas Prasad lost the record with his defeat in the 2017 by-poll. In Krishnaraja, S A Ramdas lost the record due to a break in 2004.