Sarekoppa Bangarappa

He served as a Member of the Legislative Assembly for Karnataka between 1967 and 1996, before contesting a series of six elections for the

Bangarappa was born on 26 October 1933 in Kubatur village, Soraba Taluk, Shimoga district, Karnataka. He married Shakuntala in 1958^[5] and the couple had five children, including the actor Kumar Bangarappa and film maker Madhu Bangarappa, both of whom have also been politicians.^[6] He came from the Deevaru-Idiga community.

He obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree, a similar degree in Law and a Diploma in Social Science. He stayed in kubaturu with his joint family he also had a sister named bangaramma.His niece K S Palakshappa and his son Girish took care of the house hold.^[5]

Political career

Bangarappa began his career in politics as a

In 1983, he left the INC and became involved with the Karnataka Kranti Ranga (Karnataka Revolutionary Front, also known as the Kannada Kranti Ranga) that had been established a few years earlier by the now-deceased Urs. A brief alliance between the KKR and the Janata Party (JP) resulted in the 1983 election of the first non-INC government in the state.^[10][11] Although there had been speculation that he would be appointed Chief Minister in that government, this post went instead to Ramakrishna Hegde of the JP. Bangarappa gradually realigned himself with the INC after spending some time supporting the government of Hegde.^[10]

Bangarappa was appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1985 and held that post until 1987.

Bangarappa suffered from diabetes and died on 26 December 2011 in a Bangalore hospital due to multiple causes.^[27] His funeral was attended by a large number of supporters and was held with state honours at his native village.^[28]

Police had to intervene during the funeral ceremonies due to disputes between factions, much of which appeared to revolve around family differences involving Kumar and Madhu Bangarappa.