The birth anniversary of 12th century social reformer Basavanna (Basaveshwara) will be celebrated for the first time in the Parliament in New Delhi on April 30, said V. Somanna, Minister of State for Railways.
Speaking at a press conference here on Friday, he said that Om Prakash Birla, Speaker of the Lok Sabha, will pay floral tributes to the statue of Basavanna on the Parliament premises at 8 a.m. on that day. “Union ministers Nirmala Sitharaman, Prahlad Joshi, Ashwini Kumar, H.D. Kumaraswamy, Shobha Karandlaje and others will participate in the programme,” he added.
This is the 894th birth anniversary of Basavanna, who established the Anubhav Mantapa for the first time in the 12th century for social justice. He said that the Anubhav Mantapa is the model for the present Parliament.
Apart from Karnataka, requests have been received from Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to celebrate birth anniversary of Basavanna. Therefore, steps will be taken to celebrate it in other States, Mr. Somanna said.
Rename Gulbarga University
Mr. Somanna urged the State government to rename Gulbarga University at Kalaburagi after Basavanna.
Earlier, when the Janata Dal government was in power, the then Chief Minister J.H. Patel had decided to name Gulbarga University after Basavanna. This was also agreed to by all his Cabinet members. However, after Patel’s tenure ended, no politician showed any willingness to name Gulbarga University after Basavanna. “So, the State government should at least now rename it after Basavanna,” he demanded.
Published - April 25, 2025 09:00 pm IST
