Kannada Sammelana Chief lashes out at Ananth Kumar

Mysuru: Lashing out at Union Minister Ananth Kumar for his remarks against him at the valedictory of the 83rd Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana at Maharaja’s College Grounds here yesterday, the Meet President Prof. Chandrashekar Patil (Champa) has said that there was both ‘Gangajal’ and ‘Gutter water’ in the Union Minister’s speech. Speaking after Ananth Kumar’s address at the valedictory, Prof. Champa deplored Ananth Kumar’s mindset that everyone should agree to what he  (Ananth Kumar) says. Alleging that Ananth Kumar’s speech was selective and lacked substance, he denounced the Union Minister’s statement that he was the first to take oath in Kannada. “The truth is that it was J.H. Patel who first spoke in Kannada as an MP in Parliament,” he said. Reiterating that he need not pay heed to Ananth Kumar’s remarks that had a mix of ‘Gangajal’ and ‘Gutter water,’ he chided MP Pratap Simha for following Ananth Kumar in leaving the dais. He further said that Pratap Simha should have utilised the opportunity to speak his mind. Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa and Dr. Geetha Mahadevaprasad, MLC K.T. Srikantegowda, ZAK Chariperson Mallige Veeresh, Karnataka Vishwakarma Development Corporation Chairperson Nanda Kumar, former Minister B.T. Lalitha Nayak, DC D.Randeep, Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Dr. Manu Baligar, District President Dr. Y.D. Rajanna and others were present during the valedictory.