Senior Congress legislator R V Deshpande awarded best MLA in Karnataka

Belagavi: Veteran Congress MLA and former Karnataka minister Raghunath Vishwanath Deshpande on Wednesday won the Best MLA Legislator Award.

Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri bestowed the award on the eight-time Congress MLA from Haliyal in Uttara Kannada.

The former Congress state president had also served as minister in various governments. Former chief minister Siddaramaiah hailed him as a person who always worked for bringing more investment to the state and welfare of the people of Karnataka.

Speaking on the occasion, Deshpande rued that there was ”deterioration” in politics.

”Deterioration in politics is so much that the politicians are scared of introducing themselves. People don’t have a good opinion about the politicians,” the veteran leader said.

Deshpande appealed to the politicians to gain more knowledge to take part in constructive discussions.

He thanked God, the Congress party, his parents and the people of the state who reposed faith in him.