20 Patils to enter Karnataka assembly

Post assembly polls, the 'Patil' surname is suddenly in the news and for the right reasons, as 20 of them have been elected MLAs.

Patil is a widely used surname in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Goa and even in Andhra Pradesh. In Maharashtra, Goa and AP, Patils have been village leaders. In North Karnataka, they are fondly referred to as 'Goudru'. This time in the assembly polls, 87 candidates with Patil surname were in the fray and 20 of them won; 12 are from the Congress, seven from BJP and one from JD(S).

Amaresh Nugadoni, a retired professor of Kannada University, Hampi, noted that 'Patil' was a post assigned by the British, Peshwas and Nizams to local leaders to look after villages. "Normally, Patils are Lingayats," Nugadoni said. "There are exceptions as we find the Patil surname among Brahmins, Kurubas and the Maratha communities as well," he added.

"The Patil surname was conferred upon upper castes and financially, they were quite well-off. The British, Peshwas and Nizams used to give 'inams' and 'jahagirs' to village leaders. Hence, 'Inamdar' and 'Jahagirdar' surnames were seen as a parallel to Patils, who would manage the panchayats as the rulers' representatives," he noted.

GS Patil, a four-time Congress MLA from Ron, said: "Our forefathers were called 'Policepatil' and they used to take care of the village. When the 'Policepatil' post was quashed after independence, we removed the word 'police' and only retained 'Patil' as our surname."