In a veiled attack, journalist Patil Puttappa on Wednesday blamed the silent educated lot for the pathetic and shameful situation the society is in now.
He was speaking at the guruvandana programme of Siddaganga seer Sri Shivakumara Swamiji, organised by Akhila Karnataka Vachana Sahitya Parishat at Senate Hall in the city.
The educated section of the society, irrespective of field, lacks courage to question the misdeeds of elected representatives. He questioned the gathering: “Why don’t you ask your nouveau rich elected representative about the source of their wealth?”
Patil Puttappa said when the then prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri laid foundation for the Upper Krishna Project at Almatti, it was estimated to cost Rs 798 crore. Now, the cost has escalated up to Rs 15,000 crore, yet there is no sign of its completion.
Puttappa owed it again to the silence on the part of the people, who never raise their voice against lethargic governments.
Drawing an analogy between yesteryear politicians and the present, Papu — as Patil Puttappa is popular — said, a chief minister of Maharashtra in 1950 gave his consent to the list of site allottees, only after striking the name of his son in the list. “In the present days, even though politicians have multiple sites, they hanker for another,” said Papu refering to a newspaper report.
Morarji Desai, another prominent politician of yore, was once scheduled to participate in a programme at 9 am. Morarji, a strong disciplinarian, preferred to walk out of the venue when the programme didn’t start according to the schedule.
When the organisers tried to convince Morarji after one hour, the latter refused, saying the time dedicated for the particular event was already past, he said.
Pointing out that the elected representatives lack a drive for nation building, Papu said they have only regional affiliations.
The legislators love for the region they hail from is such that, they ignore other regions and lack vision to at least savour its significance. As a result, most of the legislators lack knowledge on the history of the state.
On Siddaganga seer, Papu said: “The yeoman services rendered by the seer, by feeding 9,000 poor students in the mutt every day, is worth an applause.”
Junior pontiff of Siddaganga mutt Sri Siddalinga Swamiji participated in the programme on behalf of the seer.
Suttur mutt seer Sri Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji, theatre artiste Master Hirannaiah, Thathachar, vice-chancellor of University of Mysore V G Talwar, BJP leader H V Rajiv and Vidwan Shivakumaraswamy were present.
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