Bhimappa Gundappa Gadad, the man behind Belgaum fire

BELGAUM: It was not until Bhimappa Gundappa Gadad filed a series of RTI applications, and finally a public interest litigation in the high court, did Karnataka admit Yellur was in its territory in Belgaum district. The July 25 demolition of the Maharashtra state signboard marked the end of a three-year-long effort by Gadad, but not before sparking off a fresh bout of hostility between the neighbouring states.

Gadad, 53, is a small-time agriculturist with two acres of farmland in Gokak taluk of Belgaum district. The Right to Information Act (RTI Act) captured his imagination eight years ago, and he turned an RTI activist, identifying public issues that catch instant attention.

In March 2011, he decided to find out which state owned the village Yellur, about 10 km from Belgaum City, as it greeted visitors with an old Marathi signboard declaring that it was in Maharashtra. While none of Karnataka government’s different arms gave any replay to Gadad’s RTI applications firmly owning up the village, he was emboldened by one response which said the village was in the Belgaum Lok Sabha constituency.

Armed with that information, he filed a PIL in the Karnataka High Court, where officials admitted that the village was in Karnataka, and promised to have the Maharashtra signboard removed.

“The irony is for many years, police guarded the signboard to prevent it from being removed by pro-Kannada groups. Now the same policemen are standing guard to ensure no one builds it again,” said Gadad, a former Congressman who has studied just up to Class 10.

The low-profile activist who ignites high-voltage debates, in the process embarrassing the government, is not exactly a darling of politicians. Six years ago, he filed an RTI application seeking details of the arrears politicians owned to the state by way of their over-stay in government bungalows after completion of their term as ministers. The reply revealed that politicians owed Rs 1.9 crore, and Gadad gave wide publicity to it.