Gowda recalls, defends a blast from his past

“On the day I resigned as Prime Minister, I spoke in the Parliament as a proud Kannadiga. But within hours I received intelligence reports on celebrations over my resignation in Bangalore. That upset me badly,” Gowda said. He was speaking after felicitating achievers in different fields.

Gowda recalled that it was only Jnanapith awardee U R Ananthamurthy who came to his support at that time.

Showering encomiums on the Sammelana president Prof G Venkatasubbaiah for his erudition, Gowda said a politician can become the Prime Minister or the President, but cannot be a writer and equal achievements of Prof G V.

Several speakers at the Sammelana, while expressing satisfaction over proliferation of Kannada in different fields, felt that the benefit of growth was reaching only a small section of society.  Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade expressed concern over the declining interest in Kannada.