Kollur Mallappa

Kollur Mallappa (1905 – 24 October 2004) was the first President of Hyderabad Pradesh Congress Committee, prior to the merger of Hyderabad state into Andhra Pradesh. He was Member of Parliament from Raichur, now in Karnataka for several terms. He was mentor of late Indian Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao, several leaders like Virendra Patil, Shivraj Patil, S.B. Chavan and G. Venkataswamy, etc. He founded the Kuruba Sangham and the Kuruba hostel in Hyderabad.

Mr. Mallappa was born in 1905 and joined the Indian National Congress in 1935 following a visit to Sabarmati Ashram along with his associate Janardhana Desai. The two met Mahatma Gandhi. He took an interest in Gandhian constructive activities and was the agent for the sale of cotton and woollen khadi and the popularisation of Hindi.

Mr. Mallappa was elected to the Hyderabad State Assembly and re-elected from Surpur in Gulbarga district in 1952. After the reorganisation of the State, he was elected to the Mysore Assembly in 1957 from Sedam. He joined the Bhoodan movement started by Vinoba Bhave. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1968, 1974, and 1984 and had close ties with Indira Gandhi. Mr. Mallappa, was from the Kuruba caste, was responsible for getting the Congress party nomination to the former Chief Minister of Karnataka, N. Dharam Singh, and the thenUnion Minister for Water Resources, M. Mallikarjun Kharge, to contest the Assembly elections in 1972.

In 1941, the Nizam's government arrested him and he was jailed. He represented the Hyderabad State Congress in the August 1942 Mumbai session of the party where the Quit India call was given. The day after the country gained independence in 1947, his wife Shankaramma died. But that did not deter him from taking part in the celebrations. Mr. Mallappa had the distinction of being elected President of the Hyderabad State Congress. He also fought against the Razakars of Hyderabad. Kollur Mallapa had son called Rajashekar Kollur, who was elected as Member of Parliament and his sons called Sanjeev Kollur and Pavan Kollur, and two daughters Vijaylakshmi & Jayalakshmi Kollur. His daughter named Thayamma and her two children called C Prabhakar and C Jagadish with their respective children live in Bangalore. Kolur mallappa also had one brother called Ishwarappa kollur and his sons called Dasharath Kollur & Ambaresh kollur.

Kollur Mallappa, aged 99 years, died at the Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in Bangalore on 24 October 2004 after prolonged illness.He was one of the last links with the Congress of Mahatma Gandhi's days and the freedom struggle. He is best remembered for giving up his claim to the office of Chief Minister in 1972 when the Indian National Congress was returned to power with a thumping majority and instead installing D. Devaraj Urs as Chief Minister. He was at that time a member of the Congress Working Committee.