BANGALORE: Even as the Government is giving final touches to "Saarthaka Suvarna," a cultural extravaganza on Saturday to felicitate the actor Rajkumar on the occasion of his completing 50 years in the cinema industry, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to boycott the event although it holds the actor in high esteem.

`Keen on taking part'

The Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council, D.H. Shankaramurthy, and the actor and MLC, `Mukhyamantri' Chandru, told presspersons here on Thursday that they are also keen on participating in the function as Mr. Rajkumar is Karnataka's pride.

But the Government has ignored the Opposition leaders by excluding their names from the official invitation.

The invitation card does not make it clear whether the event is a private affair jointly organised by the two coalition partners.

Besides, the Government has shown scant respect for legislators who are also film artistes, such as C.P. Yogeshwar and Kumar Bangarappa of the Congress, B.C. Patil of the Janata Dal (Secular) and Umasri, Congress MLC, as also himself while organising the event, Mr. Chandru said.

Clarifying that they are not against felicitating Mr. Rajkumar, Mr. Chandru said he wanted to know whether Mr. Rajkumar is aware that the Opposition leaders have not been invited to the function.

Mr. Chandru released a copy of the letter he has written to the Chairman of the Legislative Council, V.R. Sudarshan, on the issue.

Mr. Shankaramurthy said that they are disappointed by the Government's attitude.

They are eager to participate in the event as they also respect Mr. Rajkumar.

The Government should apologise for not having invited the Leaders of the Opposition in the two Houses of the legislature, he said.

"We will participate in the event with pleasure if we are invited properly. Our best wishes are with Mr. Rajkumar," he said.

Meanwhile, sensing trouble, the Government is said to be planning to include the names of the Leaders of the Opposition as also that of Mr. Chandru and print a new set of invitations.

The event is being organised at an estimated cost of over Rs. 25 lakhs in association with a private television channel.

The event, to be held on the Palace Grounds here, is open to the public.

The Chief Minister, N. Dharam Singh; the Deputy Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah; the Minister for Information, B. Shivaram; the actor Ambarish, MP; the film artistes Vishnuvardhan and Jayanthi; the president of the Karnataka Film Chamber of Commerce, H.D. Gangaraju; and Parvathamma Rajkumar are scheduled to participate in the event, according to the official invitation.

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