Ramakrishna Hegde remembered

Hardcore followers of Sri Ramakrishna Hegde gathered to pay tribute to the veteran Janata Dal leader on his 5th anniversary at an event organized by the Karnataka Yuvajana Sangha, 9th Block Jayanagar. Leaders and admirers from different parties and associations joined in remembering Sri Hegde, such as Sri HC Krishna, Director, National Co-operative Bank and Congress leader, P. Vijayakumar, former Janata Dal leader and Govt. approved Notary, KS Nagaraj, YN Ashok, JDS leader, Bhaskar, Secretary, Karanth, 5th Block Welfare Association,  BV Ramesh, President, Karnataka Yuvajana Sangha, and Sangha members K. Govind, Vice President, LR Aravind, General Secretary, and KN Nagaraj, Treasurer.
In an emotional speech, Sri Nagaraju recalled how Hegde had initiated the Anti-Goonda Act to put an end to Rowdy Raj in the State. It was also Hegde who took the initiative to form a separate agency like the Lokayukta to fight corruption, he said.
Other leaders and followers too joined in singing paens of Hegde. Ramakrishna Hegde headed the first non-Congress government in Karnataka in 1983, he was the first to introduce social welfare measures like widow pension and allowance for maternity. It was also his dream that Bangalore become a city of mega flyovers.
Ramakrishna Hegde served as a Cabinet Minister for 15 years, was a 2-time Rajya Sabha M,  6-time MLA, and served as an Opposition leader for 3 years. The participants wondered why successive State governments after Hegde had chosen to ignore his contribution and not recognize him. There is not even a road or a public place that is named after Hegde, lamented Sri Ramesh. If the BJP government does not set this aberration right by August 29, the day of his birthday, his fans said they will themselves name a road or a traffic circle in memory of their mentor.

Naturally charismatic, a veteran politician, and a lover of the arts, Ramakrishna Hegde used to maintain that he was not a career politician or a 24/7 politician. It was obvious who he was referring to - his bete noire Sri Deve Gowda, with whom he had long standing differences. Till the end, Hegde was described as a leader of masses and classes, of the intellectuals and the aam aadmi. The word 'charismatic' often walks hand-in-hand with Hegde, and for good reason too. He was known as an actor, a mentor, a leader, a brother, and above all, a man of the masses - a people's person - who won their hearts not by mere speeches or public appearances, but by ground-level administrative actions that are often quoted even today.
Others recalled Hegde's significant hand in coming to the aid of the late NTR, the architect of the Telugu Desam, who gratefully recognized Hegde's help at every given occasion. They also gave credit to Hegde for Kannada getting classical status today, as it was one of his cherished dreams for which he had continuously lobbied with the centre during his time.