Kalastavadi Puttaswamy

Kalastavadi Puttaswamy (1917 – 1978) was an Indian independence activist, lawyer, politician and educationist. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly for a then record seven times, having won every assembly election from 1952 until his death in 1978. Puttaswamy held multiple cabinet portfolios under the chief ministership of S. Nijalingappa and Veerendra Patil.

Born in 1917 in Arakere, Kingdom of Mysore, Puttaswamy studied law and began legal practice in Mysore in 1942. During this time, he was also actively involved in the Indian nationalist movement. An association with INC leader Sahukar Chennaiah gradually led Puttaswamy to take an interest in electoral politics, and was elected to the Constituent Assembly post-independence in 1948. Four years later, he was elected to the Mysore Legislative Assembly from Shrirangapattana on an INC ticket. Subsequently, he successfully contested the Mysore, Chamundeshwari and Chamaraja seats in the assembly. As an educationist, Puttaswamy founded the Vidyavardhaka Sangha in Mysore. In 1974, her served as principal of its law college. Vishwanath previously served as the first mayor of the Mysore City Corporation, from 1983 to 1984.