Why it is important to invoke Gopala Gowda in these politically unhinged times in Karnataka | The Indian Express

Why it is important to invoke Gopala Gowda in these politically unhinged times in Karnataka | The Indian Express

Written by Sugata Srinivasaraju |Updated: July 27, 2019 10:14:39 am

The writer is a senior journalist and author

Why it is important to invoke Gopala Gowda in these politically unhinged times in Karnataka

Gopala Gowda's penury offers a glorious contrast to today’s Karnataka legislators who are being measured in dollar millions. He functions as a convenient instrument to measure the slide of intent and values in public life.

Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy with his deputy G Parameshwara during Assembly Session at Vidhana Soudha, in Bengaluru. (Photo: PTI)

If you rummage through the 1972 proceedings of the Karnataka Assembly, you’ll discover an intervention related to Shantaveri Gopala Gowda. He was a Socialist leader and a three-time member of the House, who had passed away in June that year. The intervention, which sounds more like petitioning Chief Minister Devaraj Urs, is made by H D Deve Gowda, the then Leader of Opposition. He says Gopala Gowda’s family is in fragile economic health, and as colleagues, they had a duty towards the family. Urs, a mentee of Gopala Gowda, responds positively.