B. D. Jatti, A Life Story

 

B. D. Jatti

Basappa Danappa Jatti was an Indian politician who held many prominent positions in his career. Born on September 10, 1912, in a Kannada speaking Lingayat family in Savalgi, Bijapur district of Karnataka, Jatti received his education from the Bijapur Government High School, Rajaram College, and Sykes Law College in Kolhapur. Jatti's political journey started when he was elected as a municipality member at Jamkhandi in 1940. Eventually, he became the president of the Jamkhandi Town Municipality in 1945, and later a member of the Jamkhandi State Legislature. In 1948, he became the chief minister of the princely state of Jamkhandi and facilitated the princely state's accession to the Indian Union.

After the merger of Jamkhandi with Bombay state, Jatti was nominated as a member of the Bombay State Legislative Assembly Keeping faith on Jatti, the chief minister B.G.Kher appointed him as the parliamentary secretary to the Bombay state. Later, he became the Minister of Health and Labour of the then Bombay government until the reorganization of states. After the reorganization, Jatti became a member of the Mysore Legislative Assembly, and in 1958 he became the chief minister of Mysore. In 1962, he resigned as the chief minister since he did not command the support of a majority of elected legislators of the Congress Party and was succeeded by S. R. Kanthi.

Jatti then served as the Lieutenant Governor of Pondicherry from October 1968 to November 1972 and later was appointed as the Governor of Orissa in November 1972. During the period of President's Rule in Orissa, Jatti administered the state until March 1974. He resigned as the Governor in August 1974 to contest the Vice Presidential election of 1974. Jatti won the election and was sworn in as the Vice President of India on August 31, 1974, and served in that position until 1979.

Following the death of President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed on February 11, 1977, Jatti was sworn in as the acting President of India the same day. He served as the acting President until July 25, 1977. Jatti played a crucial role in revoking the Emergency on March 21, 1977, and swearing in Morarji Desai as the Prime Minister on March 24, 1977. In April 1977, the fresh government proposed the removal of administrations and the disintegration of legislative assemblies in states governed by the Congress Party, which Jatti initially hesitated to endorse. However, he eventually agreed to the Cabinet's recommendation and dismissed the governments. Jatti's autobiography, 'I'm my own model', is very popular among the readers. Jatti passed away on June 7, 2002.