Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy

Hotte Paksha Rangaswamy (; 1933 – 7 January 2007) was a political leader from the Indian state of Karnataka, who had a penchant for contesting elections. He is a Guinness World Records holder for having contested the highest number of elections - he unsuccessfully did so 86 times.

Name His name literally translates to Rangaswamy of the Stomach Party in Kannada. This is attributed to his electoral plank of food shortage, which made him popular. He earned the name Hotte Paksha after he floated a political party by that name.

Electoral penchant He made his electoral debut in 1967 when he contested the Lok Sabha poll against the then railway minister Kengal Hanumanthaiah. He fought 85 further electoral battles.

In the 1970s, he ran against Indira Gandhi in the Chikmagalur by-poll. He also ran against the former Indian Prime Ministers Rajiv Gandhi and P. V. Narasimha Rao. His final electoral battle was against former Chief minister of Karnataka S. M. Krishna.

Later life "Hotte Paksha" Rangaswamy, with his trident and matted locks, was a familiar sight across Bangalore. In his later life, he wanted to be known as Swami Ranganathapuri, of Kishkindha Ashram in Ayodhya.