BENGALURU: The Maharishi Valmiki Award 2018-19 ceremony organised at the Vidhana Soudha on Wednesday turned out to be a dampener with recipient H D Deve Gowda, presenter Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy and Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara missing from the event. A son presenting his father with the award for his contributions to SC/ST communities could have gone down in history, but with both skipping the event for different reasons, Social Welfare Minister Priyank Kharge was left to pacify the disappointed leaders from the Valmiki community. Gowda skipped the celebrations citing his London tour.
While the event, organised by the social welfare department, went on as per schedule, the tension was palpable as members of the community shouted slogans against the CM and DyCM and demanded that their photos that were being screened on LED screens set up inside the banquet hall be removed since they had ‘deliberately’ given the event a miss.
Priyank had to bear the brunt of protests after the CM skipped the event citing health reasons and Parameshwara being busy campaigning at Jamkhandi for the upcoming bypolls. Priyank and the community seers had to pacify the angry members, after which the celebrations continued. Though Deve Gowda gave the function a miss, his flying visit to pay tribute to the Valmiki statue outside the Legislators’ House was the only solace for the gathering.
“The CM is citing health issues as an excuse to skip our community’s event but he is all set to visit Dharmasthala. This is an insult and a clear attempt to ignore our community and he will have to face repercussions for it,” said Dayanand, a Valmiki community leader.However, a statement from the CMO said that the CM did not go to Dharmasthala due to his ill health.
“Many assurances were given for the community in his election manifesto but the Chief Minister isn’t here today. We could have presented our problems and demands here. However, I am told that he is suffering from ill-health. We have high regard for the Chief Minister,” said Valmiki Guru Peetha’s seer Prasannananda Swamiji.
Priyank Kharge who inaugurated the event said that the protests were in the heat of the moment but the community members were magnanimous enough not to let the absence of the Chief Minister affect the celebrations. “The anguish is quite understandable but they were not aware of the seriousness of Kumaraswamy’s health concern. Had they known, I am sure, they wouldn’t have made it an issue,” he said, adding that the department was grateful that they obliged to go ahead with the celebrations as a tribute to Valmiki.
CM advised bed rest for stomach ailment
A statement from the CM’s office stated that Kumaraswamy who was suffering from a stomach ailment had to cancel all engagements for the day. The CM who was rushed to a hospital was advised bed rest for a day.