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After declaring Basavanna as the "cultural icon" of Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Tuesday directed all government offices to affix his portrait with slogan 'Vishwa Guru Basavanna, our cultural leader.'
He unveiled the portrait of the social reformer at a event organised at Vidhana Soudha Conference Hall in Bengaluru. Siddaramaih declared that Basavanna's portrait will be unveiled in all government offices across the state on February 17, a decision is seen as Congress's attempt to woo the Lingayat community in Karnataka ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. "The district in-charge ministers at the district level, MLAs at the taluk level and the respective chairpersons in all the urban and rural organizations will do the honours. Basavanna's portrait should be installed in all offices and his principles should be adopted at least a little in our lives," the CM said. Preaching Basavanna's principles, he said, "Hatred is bad. We should be compassionate to others." Elaborating on his initiative to bring about change in society, Siddaramaih said, "The old jail premises in Shimoga have been named Allama Prabhu. It was our government that named Bijapur Women's University as Akka Mahahadevi University. We are doing these things to bring about change in society. The words of Basavadi Sharanas were relevant in the past and will remain significant in the future." "There is no shortage of funds in the government for Basavanna's programmes," he added. Calling out the names of Buddha, Basavanna, Mahatma Gandhi, and Ambedkar, Siddaramaiah said that all of them aspired for a healthy and compassionate social system, adding to which he emphasised, "Casteism and superstitions are prevalent in society. Basavanna worked hard to eliminate inequality and made everyone live with self-respect." (ANI)
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