Min Shankar left red-faced after forgetting Sir M Visvesvaraya’s name; video goes viral

Chikkaballapura: State Minister for Forests R Shankar found himself in an embarrassing situation when he seemingly could not name Sir M Visvesvaraya after garlanding a newly erected statue of the engineering stalwart.

The incident took place on Friday during Shankar’s visit to the Chikkaballapura district to attend a review meeting and check on the progress of Visvesvaraya Institute of Advanced Technology.

Since Shankar was in Muddenahalli, which happens to be the birthplace of Sir M Visvesvaraya, the locals insisted that he visit the Visvesvaraya memorial.

Later when speaking to reporters he was briefing them about the places that he visited here and mentioned about having garlanded the statue. However, he was left red-faced as he could not tell whose statue it was and had to seek the help of his staff member. A video of this incident has reportedly gone viral.

Reacting to this, BJP MLA Suresh Kumar tweeted, “Karnataka Forest Minister R.Shankar. Garlands Sir M.Vishveshwaraya Statue & Then Asks His Secretary Who is He. Lol he is a Minister.”

Sir M Visvesvaraya, a recipient of the Bharat Ratna award is held in high regard as a pre-eminent Engineer of India. He was conferred with the Sir title by the British in the year 1915 for his contributions to the public good. His birth anniversary is celebrated as Engineers’ Day in the country. Most of his notable works include the Krishna Raja Sagara Lake and dam, which was the largest dam in the country in those times (1924).

Video courtesy: News18 Kannada