by reciprocal arrangement with Star of Mysore
Mysore, Aug 10: It was a travel down memory lane and many facts of the political arena were equally remembered with a touch of nostalgia by the veteran politician and the first Parliamentarian from this part of the country, M.S. Gurupadaswamy, who opened his mind of his nearly six decades of life in politics.
During the felicitation ceremony on the occasion of his 85th birthday at Kalamandira here on Sunday, Gurupadaswamy's assessment of political scene, prevalent during the years after independence and the present day, revealed many facts unknown to many.
In the general elections held in 1952, the first after India became independent, Gurupadaswamy contested for the Lok Sabha successfully defeating his rival H.C. Dasappa. The constituency included Mysore, Mandya, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar districts.
'The politics of those days was totally different from the present day style of practice. In those days, all the MPs were patriots and were serious in nation-building', he recalled.
Fiat car
'When I contested in 1952, the money I spent for the elections was only Rs. 18,000 and my only vehicle for campaigning was a Fiat car. Those days were entirely different from the present', he said.
'In those days, no issue was being passed without a debate in the House. Even the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not spared in relaxing the strict practice. Once he wanted to make a statement in a hurry, but it was rejected by the then Speaker Maulankar who upheld the practice of proper debate over it', Gurupadaswamy recalled.
He also remembered his long journey in politics wherein he said he tripped many a time and the timely help was provided by leaders like S. Nijalingappa, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Acharya Kripalani and Ashok Mehta.
Nehru's salary
Gurupadaswamy dwelled on the issue of emoluments of Ministers and said Nehru's monthly salary was only Rs. 2,500 ! A Cabinet Minister was getting a monthly salary of Rs. 2,200 and Ministers salary was only Rs. 1,800 those days, he said.