At the age of 18, Mallya joined the freedom movement after being inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's call to action.
He resigned from his family business in Mangalore, and began a life as a Satyagrahi, which resulted in him going to prison a number of times.
[2] Due to his close relationship with to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Mallya was chosen as the General Secretary of All India Congress Committee in 1951.
[3] Jaideep Shenoy, in an article in The Hindu, noted that, "It was Mallya's vision which saw the construction of the New Mangalore Port, Bajpe airport, National Highway 66 and most importantly Karnataka Regional Engineering College (since upgraded into National Institute of Technology, Karnataka).
There is one in front of the Town Hall, one at Kadri and one each at the main gate of the New Mangalore Port Trust, and at NITK, Suratkal.