Veteran leader A G Kodgi no more
Udupi, June 13, 2022: Former MLA of Byndoor constituency, Amasebailu Gopalakrishna Kodgi, commonly known as AG Kodgi breathed his last today. He was 94.
Kodgi, who had served as the two-time MLA from Byndoor had later served as the district president, State Vice President of the BJP. He was also appointed the Chairperson of the 3rd Finance Commission Implementation Task Force.In 2013 when he was 85, Kodgi had declared his retirement from politics.
Born on October 1, 1929, Gopalakrishna was the son of freedom fighter Amasebailu Krishnaraya Kodgi.
who studied law was a revolutionary agriculturist. He joined the Congress party. He had served as the Taluk Board chairman and Dakshina Kannada Zilla Parishad member.
His defeat in the first assembly election in 1967 did not dishearten him. Though he lost with a margin of 3909 against Praja Socialist Party (PSP) candidate S L Halsnad, he did not lose hope and continued to work for the party.
His close association with the people ensured his victory in the 1972 election with a massive margin of 23,392 votes (56.93 percent of total valid votes) against independent candidate D Ganapayya.
When the Congress split and Indira Gandhi headed the Congress (I), Kodgi decided to stand with her faction. In the 1978 election, he contested as the Congress (I) candidate and defeated Janatha Party candidate Elwin P Crasto by 11,967 votes.
Kodgi then joined the BJP.
His political experience and close association with the people and leaders made BJP elevate him to the post of district president and also later Vice President of the Karnataka unit.
When BJP came to power in the state, he was made the chairman of the 3rd Finance Commission and later as the chairman of the Implementation Task Force.
Kodgi, who was a great visionary, continuously toiled for the upliftment of rural areas.
He had served as the chairman of Shankaranarayana CA Bank, SCDCC Bank director, Mangaluru APMC president and also State Marketing Board member. Between 1982 and 1990 he was the director of The Karnataka Bank
Under his leadership, Amasebailu became the state’s first solar power Gram Panchayat.
His son Kiran Kodgi is serving as the Vice President of Karnataka State Food and Civil Supplies Corporation and another son Kishore Kodgi is the chairman of CAMPCO.
He is survived by wife, five sons, a daughter and relatives.
Various organisations and religious and political leaders including Swamiji of Pejawara Matha, Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari D Veerendra Heggade, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Union Minister Shobhara Karandlaje, MP and state BJP chief Nalin Kumar Kateel, BJP leader Pramod Madhwaraj and condoled the death of AG Kodgi.
