The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Council nominations: teachers get preference

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Monday, Jun 23, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Council nominations: teachers get preference

Special Correspondent

Doddarange Gowda

M.R. Doreswamy

Mumtaz Ali Khan

Vijay Sankeshwar

BANGALORE: The BJP Government has sprung a surprise with regard to nominations to the Legislative Council.

Four of the five persons nominated are academics.

The nominations have been pending since June 20, 2007.

The nomination of Mumtaz Ali Khan had become imperative after he was made the Minister for Haj and Wakfs and Minority Welfare.

Prof. Khan holds a doctorate in sociology. He retired as professor in the University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Bangalore. He has authored over five books on various subjects. He is the lone Minister representing Minorities in the B.S. Yeddyurappa Government.

Seventy-year-old M.R. Doreswamy is founder-secretary of People’s Education Society (PES) and the PES Institute of Technology. He established the PES in 1972 in Bangalore with just 40 students at a gymnasium. Now, the PES has several campuses in the State and in Andhra Pradesh with over 8,000 students. Of the nominations, the “most surprising” one is that of S.R. Leela, professor of Sanskrit. Prof. Leela taught Sanskrit in NMKRV Women’s College here until she opted for voluntary retirement three years ago. Although her name has not been popular as a writer in Kannada literary circles, she has authored books in Kannada, English and Sanskrit. She is now associated with the Mahabharata Samshodhana Partishtana, which has taken up an encyclopaedia project.

Poet Doddarange Gowda shot into fame with his enchanting lyrics for the film Parasangada Gende Thimma based on the late Alanahalli Krishna’s novel. One of his well-known lyric is “Tera Yeri Ambaradage Nesara Nagutane...” He is a retired professor of Kannada and has published a number of anthologies. He has brought out several audio cassettes and CDs of his poems.

Vijay Sankeshwar (58) represented the Dharwad North Lok Sabha constituency twice — in 1996 and 1998 — on the BJP ticket. Later, he launched the Kannada Nadu Paksha only to return to the BJP on the eve of the 2008 Assembly elections.

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