Gundugutti Manjanathaya

Gundugutti M. Manjanathaya^[1] was an Indian freedom fighter and politician. Born as G. M. Manjanath, on 2nd June, 1904, he was a prominent coffee planter and lived in the village of Gundugutti in Somwarpet taluk in Kodagu district.^[2]

Gundugutti M. Manjanathaya
Born	G. M. Manjanatha 1904 Kodagu (Coorg), India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation(s)	Freedom fighter, politician
Signature

Freedom movement

In 1934, Pandyanda Belliappa, another prominent freedom fighter, and Gundugutti Manjanathaya succeeded in persuading Mahatma Gandhi to tour Coorg for his cause of gaining donations towards the Harijan welfare fund. They accompanied him into Coorg and he stayed at Gundugutti Manjanathaya's house for one evening. It was here that Mrs. B. T. Gopal Krishna, better known as Kodagina Gowramma, a famous Kannada woman writer and his relative, donated her jewellery for the cause and invited the entourage to her house.^[3][4] During the 1942 Quit India Movement Manjanathaya's eldest son Gundugutti Narasimhamurthy organised a Seva Mandal in Madikeri to inspire the youth.^[4]

Politics

In 1947 Coorg was a separate state in South India. Coorg had two MPs in the Union Parliament then, besides having a state legislative body. Manjanathaya was elected MLA (Member of the Legislative Assembly) of the State of Coorg (now Kodagu), between the years 1952-1957 and represented Sunticoppa I constituency as a member of the Indian National Congress party. In 1956 the State Reorganisation Act was passed. Coorg State (Kodagu) was merged with Mysore State and the legislative body at Madikeri was dissolved. In 1967 G.M. Manjanathaya represented the Swatantra Party and defeated INC candidate C.K. Kalappa from Somwarpet constituency in the Mysore State (Old name for Karnataka) Elections in 1967.^[5][6][7]

Legacy

You can also locate a high school called Gundugutty school, named after its founder GMM.

References

1. "Karnataka Assembly Election Results in 1967". elections.in. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
2. Mysore Information, Volume 22, Issues 1-5. Mysore (India : State). Information Dept. 1958. pp. 22–24. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
3. Gandhi's campaign against untouchability, 1933-34: an account from the Raj's secret official reports. New Delhi, India: Gandhi Peace Foundation. 1996. p. 111. ISBN 9788185411101. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
4. Kamath, Dr. S. U. (1993). Karnataka State gazetteer, Kodagu. Director of Print, Stationery and Publications at the Government Press. pp. 101, 102. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
5. Chinnappa, K. Jeevan (29 April 2008). "From a princely State to two Assembly segments". The Hindu. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
6. Appaiah, Ashwini. "Stress laid on religious tolerance at I-Day event in Kodagu". Team Mangalorean. Archived from the original on 8 August 2014. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
7. Karanth, Kota Shivarama (1 January 1993). Ten Faces of a Crazy Mind: Autobiography (translated from Kannada). Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. p. 285. ISBN 9788172760236. Retrieved 6 August 2014.