Clad in an orange robe, sporting a long beard and with a trishul in hand, you could be forgiven for thinking Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy was just another godman. But in reality, Rangaswamy was a record-creating politician.
Born in 1933, Rangaswamy holds the Guinness record for having contested elections 86 times in his political career. He lost all 86 times.
His first attempt was in 1967 when he contested the Lok Sabha election against then railway minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah. In the 1970s, Rangaswamy contested against Indira Gandhi in the Chikmagalur by-poll. He kept trying over the years, unsuccessfully contesting against bigwigs like former prime ministers Rajiv Gandhi and P V Narasimha Rao.
Rangaswamy even formed his own party -- Hotte Paksha Party (Stomach party) -- and came out with a manifesto. During one of his election battles, Rangaswamy distributed rice on a bullock cart at Rs 1 per kilogram. After distributing the rice, he told people not to vote for him. He explained that politicians are bad people and do not deserve to serve the people.
Apart from contesting polls, he was also known for filing several public interest litigations in the Karnataka high court. In fact, he liked to be addressed as a one-man crusader against corruption.
His final electoral battle was against former Karnataka chief minister of S M Krishna. And then one day, Rangaswamy -- who could always seen commuting on his son's moped -- was no more. He passed away on January 7, 2007.
Photograph: Indranil Mukherjee/AFP/Getty Images
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