My relationship with Brahmin society is pleasant: MB Patil

BENGALURU: "As soon as I talk about BL Santosh, it is not like insulting the entire Brahmin community. Come to Vijayapura and see how pleasant the relationship between me and Brahmins is. MP Pratap Simha should stop talking against me personally every day. His mood is very worrying," Large and Medium Industries Minister MB Patil has retaliated.

Talking to mediapersons on Tuesday, Minister M B Patil said, "Ananth Kumar of BJP was a minister at the Center. Then I was the Irrigation Minister in the state. When he went over the affairs of our state, he looked after the welfare of Karnataka beyond the party lines. He took us to all the ministers and officials. People like Pratap need to learn from him. But , BJP has no memory of Ananth Kumar now," he said.

"We are bringing a comprehensive volume of Dasa literature from our BLDE organization. The Adilshahi volumes were edited by Brahmin Krishna Kolhara Kulkarni. Also, there are many Brahmins in our organization. Deshpande, Manmantha Rao, who taught me in my childhood, were all Brahmins. When I stood for the Lok Sabha elections in 1998 and won, more than one lakh Brahmins are in Vijayapur constituency and 90 percent people voted for me," he replied.

"My father and I are known for our good relationship with the Brahmins. I have done many works of the Brahmin community including Halagali temple, Hanuman temple in Vijayapur. Similarly, that society also identified with me with admiration. Without knowing all this, Pratap Simha is showing the perversion of low taste. I will not bother with his words anymore," He clarified.

Pratap said that Siddaramaiah is hitting someone else with a gun on my shoulder. I am from Vijaypur. I have the strength to hit someone directly if I want to hit them. Leaving all this aside, Patil sarcastically asked him to do constructive work while worrying about the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

My criticism of BL Santosh is political in nature. There is no intention to disparage Brahmins. I have never in my life spoken derogatorily about Brahmins or any other community. He countered that we have a culture of respecting everyone.

Pratap called me Siddaramaiah's chela. This person is a scorpion kept by Santosh. He has kept many such scorpions. Therefore, every day they leave such scorpions and have fun, the minister said.

Another one said that mine is a retail account. It would be good if they ask Modi about the importance of industrial account. Whatever the account, what we do is important. He said that it is regrettable that an MP does not know such basic facts.