Speaking to reporters, Vatal Nagaraj of Kannada Okkuta said all Kannada organisations, the Kannada filmdom, hotel owners and educational institutions should support the bundh. Goa Irrigation Minister Vinod Palyekar should apologise for his derogatory comments against Kannadigas, he added.
Vatal Nagaraj is a pioneer of sorts. Being a hardcore bengalurian, he foresaw danger to kannada , kannadigas and Karnataka from outside migrants. This was about 4 decades back…..he conceived Kannada Chaluvali (Kannada Campaign) and started a party called Kannada Chaluvali Paksha. He was MLA from this party…
He is one person in Karnataka who surfaces whereever or whenever Kannada stakes are involved. At the same time he never hobnobbed with mainstream parties, never sought power, nor got into any communal / political issues…
Now in his mid-sixties, he is the natural accepted leader for the thousand plus kannada outfits batting for Kannada and Kannadigas.
Because of his sheer perseverance in espousing kannada causes, he has become some kind of hated/feared person among migrants eventhough there is no any record of Vatal rabble rousing or inciting violence or hatred for other communities. All he does is putting forward the kannada perspective, never uses inflammatory words nor high decibel speeches.