BR Patil was supposed to be minister, says Siddu

Bengaluru, NT Bureau: In a surprising development, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed that Congress MLA from Aland BR Patil was originally supposed to be a minister but only just missed out due to other compulsions.

The CM went further and said that the “future is bright” as far as the veteran MLA is concerned. He made the comments during the announcement on the ‘Poornakrantiya Jayaprakash Narayan’ award being given to Patil, at the Karnataka Chitrakala Parishad programme organized in the city.

The event was organized on the occasion of the 122nd birth anniversary of Narayan. It is to be noted that Narayan was a Janata Parivar icon and one of the faces of the anti-Emergency movement. Patil, himself a former Janata Party member, was jailed for six months during the Emergency, which was imposed between 1975 and 1977.

Siddaramaiah added that he was immensely fond of Patil. Heaping even more praise on the MLA, the CM said that Patil had struggled more than him for the welfare of the nation.

He called on the polity to emulate the ideals of Narayan and bring about another revolution in the country for the sake of greater social justice.