Bangalore: The Election Commission is facing a unique problem in Karnataka. The opposition BJP and other parties have requested the commission to remove the pictures of Jnanpeeth Award winning Kannada writers Dr UR Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad from public places till the voting gets over in the state on April 17.
Both Ananthamurthy and Girish Karnad are openly campaigning for the Congress and opposing the BJP's PM nominee Narendra Modi. In Karnataka, state government run buses, bus stations, schools and several other public places have the pictures of all 8 Jnanpeeth award recipients from the state. Even the walls and parks have pictures of these writers across Karnataka.
Their pictures are everywhere across the state. In an effort to create awareness about the rich Kannada literature, government has allowed the public institutions to hang the pictures and posters of these renowned writers.
Since two of them are openly backing the Congress, the Election Commission is faced with this problem. According to EC rules, no material which can influence the voters can be displayed at public places during the polls.
Ananthamurthy has backtracked from his earlier statement that he will leave India, if Modi becomes the Prime Minister. The top leaders of the state BJP, BS Yeddyurappa, Jagadish Shettar and Prahlad Joshi have attacked them for openly siding with the 'corrupt' Congress and hurting the sentiments of non-Congress fans of these writers.
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