Karnataka: Ex- Minister, Senior Congress Leader Bheemanna Khandre Dies

A freedom fighter and prominent social reformer, Khandre played a pivotal role in public life beyond politics, contributing significantly to social service, education, the cooperative sector and mass movements. His last rites will be performed on Saturday evening.

Khandre was an active participant in the Hyderabad Liberation Movement and protested Razakar atrocities. He later worked tirelessly to ensure Bidar district remained part of Karnataka during State reorganisation, for which he was honoured with the Suvarna Ekikarana State Award.

He had been unwell for the past few days and was initially admitted to a private hospital in Bidar before being shifted home to Bhalki, where he breathed his last around 10.50 pm on Friday.

According to Eshwar B Khandre, the mortal remains will be kept for public viewing at the family residence in Gandhi Ganj, Bhalki, on Saturday morning. The last rites will be held in the evening at Shantidham on Chikal Chand Road, Bhalki, beside the samadhi of his late wife Lakshmibai, following Veerashaiva Lingayat traditions.

Tributes poured in from across the political, social and religious spectrum. Over the past week, heads of various mutts, ministers, legislators and members of the public had visited Bhalki to enquire about his health and offer prayers for his recovery.

A lawyer by profession who fought for farmers and the underprivileged, Khandre entered politics in 1953 and became the first elected president of the Bhalki Municipal Council. He was elected to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly four times (1962, 1967, 1978 and 1983) and served two terms as a Member of the Legislative Council (1988 and 1994). He also served as Karnataka’s Transport Minister in the M Veerappa Moily Cabinet from 1992 to 1994.

Deeply influenced by Basavanna’s ideals of social equality and justice, Khandre worked to propagate these principles throughout his life. Guided by his diksha guru, the late Dr Channabasava Pattaddevaru, he played a key role in the construction of the Shiva-linga–shaped Anubhava Mantapa at Basavakalyan, dedicating personal effort and resources to the project.

As national president of the Veerashaiva Lingayat Mahasabha, he strengthened and unified the community, expanding the organisation’s membership from a few thousand to over one lakh.

An educationist and institution builder, Khandre served as president of Shantivardhak Education Institutions and was instrumental in establishing Akka Mahadevi College in Bidar and an engineering college in Bhalki, even stepping down as minister to facilitate the latter.

He was also a key figure in the cooperative sector, founding the Hallikhed–Bidar Cooperative Sugar Factory and the Mahatma Gandhi Sugar Factory at Hunaji. He chaired the Bidar Sahakara Sakkare Karkhane for 12 years and served as an executive member of national cooperative bodies, besides contributing to the implementation of the Naranja and Karanja irrigation projects.

During the 1976 population control drive, Khandre opposed forced sterilisation and instead led a public awareness initiative that resulted in over 2,500 voluntary sterilisations in a single day — an effort that drew international attention, including from the BBC.

Appointed general secretary of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee and convener of the State Kisan Cell in 1980, he led a delegation of around 16,000 farmers to the All India Kisan Rally in New Delhi in 1981.

Khandre is survived by two sons — Eshwar B Khandre and Amar Kumar Khandre — and four daughters. His third son, former MLA Dr Vijaykumar Khandre, passed away in 2019.

In recognition of his immense public service, Khandre received the Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsava Award from the Government of Karnataka, while Gulbarga University conferred on him an honorary Doctor of Law (Honoris Causa).

While official records list his birth year as 1927, Khandre often stated that he was born on January 8, 1923. He had completed 102 years last week.