Bengaluru: An actor who wants to return his awards shouldn’t accept any, Union Minister Sadanand Gowda said of actor Prakash Raj, after the veteran artist was chosen to receive a new accolade, Dr Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttara Prashanth.
Earlier this week, Raj said he felt like returning his five National Awards to the government, while criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on social media reactions to the murder of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh. But Raj later said he would not return his awards. The killers of Gauri Lankesh, a close friend of Raj’s, have still not been found.
“He is very good actor…but nowadays his ideologies support the Left, and that is not in line with what people think today. An actor who says he wants to return his award should not also accept an award – this is my personal opinion,” said Gowda, a former Karnataka Chief Minister.
Raj has been chosen to receive the Dr Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttara Prashanth, in recognition of his contribution to cinema. BJP members on the selection board have now refused to attend the ceremony.
