Karnataka’s Assembly turns 70 tomorrow

The first Assembly had 99 elected and one nominated members

On Saturday, the Legislative Assembly of Karnataka, formed following the general elections in 1952, will turn 70. It succeeded the erstwhile Mysore Provisional Assembly formed in 1949 and was the first Assembly after the Constitution of India came into being and after the first election based on universal adult franchise in the post independent India.

At 11 a.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 1952, the compact Mysore Legislative Assembly (as it was called then) met at the Assembly Hall of the Old Public Offices that now houses the Karnataka High Court. As against the current Assembly strength of 224 elected members and one nominated member, the first Assembly had 99 elected members and one nominated member. While June 18 marks 70 years of the Legislative Assembly in post independence period, the history of the Assembly in Karnataka goes back to 1881 when the first Mysore Representative Assembly was formed.

Mysore Legislative Assembly debates, available in the Karnataka Legislature library, chronicles how the first session unfolded.

The Rajapramukh and the erstwhile ruler of Mysuru Princely State Jaya Chamaraja Wadiyar appointed V. Venkatappa as the interim Speaker to administer oath to the members and conduct election to the post of the Speaker. As the Leader of the House, K. Hanumanthaiah, the Chief Minister and Finance Minister, was the first to take oath, and on the first day 94 members took oath. Thomas Sydney A. was the first nominated member of the house. Lakshmi Devi Ramanna (Hoskote-Anekal), Siddamma B. (Davangere) and Subbamma B.L. (Chikkamagalur-Mudigere) were the three elected women members.

The first election to the post of the Speaker was conducted on the first day through ballot paper in which noted socialist S. Gopala Gowda lost to Congress member H. Siddaiah by a huge margin. While Siddaiah polled 79 votes, Gopala Gowda could only muster 14 votes as the Congress had won a landslide victory in the just concluded election. The Congress had won 74 seats, followed by Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party 8, Socialist Party 3, Scheduled Caste Federation 2, and Communist Party of India 1, besides 11 Independents. Accepting defeat gracefully, Gopal Gowda, despite not having strength to win, justifies his decision to contest the election since the Congress had not reached out to the Opposition to have an unanimous election for the post of the Speaker.

Even the Speaker’s election was conducted in a confusion as members were not aware how much time they were allocated for elections and sought clarification from the interim Speaker. A couple of members wanted to know if members were absent when their names were called would they be allowed to vote again.

The government headed by Hanumanthaiah had five Ministers – T. Siddalingaiya (Industries), A.G. Ramachandra Rao (Law and Education), T. Channiah (Public Health and Local Self Government), Kadidal Manjappa (Revenue and Public Works), and H. Sidda Veerappa (Home Affairs and Agriculture). Later, the House Committee, Committee on Privileges, Committee on Public Accounts and Estimates Committee were formed. The first Chief Minister of Mysore State K.C. Reddy, Kadidal Manjappa who briefly succeeded Hanumanthaiah as Chief Minister later and the future Chief Mminister D. Devaraja Urs representing Hunsur were in the first Assembly.