Analysing Rammanohar Lohia’s reception in the spheres of party politics, social movements and literature in Karnataka, it emerges that his impact on electoral politics in the state was not substantial. However, key policy innovations such as Devaraj Urs’ land reforms and pro-backward class policies in the 1970s owed a debt to Lohia. He was also a major influence on social and literary movements in the state. Besides inspiring some of the key leaders of the farmers’ movement, Lohia contributed to the distinctiveness of the dalit movement in Karnataka. His ideas on caste, language and individual freedom also inspired the leading figures of Kannada literary modernism. And no historical study of the Kannada language movement can discount the attraction Lohia’s strong support for regional languages had for proponents of Kannada.