Linganna Pujari

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Mr. Linganna Puttal Pujari (1915-1999) was a prominent political leader and social worker in Bombay, India. Pujari was born into a poor telugu-speaking Puragiri Kshatriya (Perika) family in Domakonda village in Nizamabad Dist., Andhra Pradesh.

In 1928, young Pujari moved to Bombay in order to support his large family comprising of 10 siblings. In Bombay, he embarked upon his public service career in the crime-infested Kamathipura locality. Alongside his job as an apprentice to a carpenter, Linganna got actively involved in social work and promoting communal harmony. He was singularly responsible for having quelled many a Hindu-Muslim riot in the Nagpada area of Bombay for which he was also felicitated by Commissioner Wilson in 1941.

His greatest political achievement was in 1946 when Pujari, as an independent candidate for the Bombay Municipal Corporation (BMC) by-elections, defeated stalwart Congressman Raja(Gunottam) Hutheesing, husband of Krishna Hutheesing and brother-in-law of none other than Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. Putting aside his pride, Nehru, impressed by Pujari's bold dynamism, charisma and popularity among the masses invited him to join the Indian National Congress party into which he was formally inducted in 1947. From this point on, there was no looking back for Pujari. He was elected to the BMC a record number of times until 1972, when he was elevated to membership of the Legislative Council of the State of Maharashtra. While in the BMC, he held important posts such as that of Chairman of the Improvements and BEST Committees. For a number of years, he served as a member on the board of the Bombay Port Trust.

While in the government Linganna never held any top-level executive position because he felt that a university or college degree was a basic requirement for any such position, something that he lacked. He was known as a king maker, making many "behind the curtains" decisions for the Congress Party. Although illiterate when he moved to Bombay, Pujari gained fluency in several languages such as English, Marathi, Telugu, Hindi and Gujarati. His mastery of written and spoken English could put many a college graduate to shame. During the Indira Gandhi vs. Morarji Desai, S.K.Patil, Nijalingappa standoff of 1969, Pujari stoicly stood behind Mrs. Gandhi when many a senior Congressman flocked to the "Syndicate", an act of loyalty she remembered for many years. Even then, he declined presidentship of the Bombay Pradesh Congress Committee when it was offered to him. Despite subtle opposition and sabotage attempts from the well established Telugu speaking Tulla and Puppala families of Kamathipura, Pujari's writ ruled supreme in the Kamathipura-Nagpada area for well over four decades. Though belonging to a higher caste himself, his popularity among the majority Padmashali or Telugu weaver community and local Muslims helped him win many an election. To the end, Pujari, known to the masses and the political and business elite alike as Anna, never forgot to laud the Padmashalis for their unflinching loyalty and support to him. His contribution to Bombay in general and Kamathipura in particular, was immense. Schools, hospitals, clinics and water supply came about on his initiative. Hundreds of local lads were recruited in the BMC and BEST. He was most emphatic about the importance of education. In 1975 he started the Vidyarthi Sahayyak Samiti, a free textbook distribution network for the underprivileged children of Kamathipura. Parents were severely reprimanded for disallowing their children to attend school. His oldest son Narayan, since deceased, went on to study Law and was later elected to the Bombay Municipal Corporation from the Worli constituency in 1978.

Mr. Pujari, was especially known for his tough pragmatism and honesty in both his personal as well as his public life.