Karnataka: RV Deshpande wins ‘Best Legislator’ award

Senior Congress lawmaker R V Deshpande won the ‘Best Legislator’ award for 2022 on Wednesday.

Assembly Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri announced the award to Deshpande. He was selected by a committee consisting of Kageri, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Law & Parliamentary Affairs Minister J C Madhuswamy and Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah.

Deshpande, 75, is the senior-most MLA having won eight times. He represents Haliyal in the Uttara Kannada district.

A former Karnataka Congress president, Deshpande has served as minister multiple times handling various portfolios. But, he is best known for his tenure as industries minister.

Describing Deshpande as a go-getter, Bommai said the Congress MLA was instrumental in bringing Toyota to Karnataka. “At the time, I had opposed it because huge concessions were being given for a long period of time. But then, there was stiff competition from Tamil Nadu,” he said, adding that Deshpande has friends in all parties.

Siddaramaiah said Deshpande had an “addiction” to industries. “He always desired that more investments should come into Karnataka creating jobs so that the state’s GDP would grow,” he said, urging Deshpande to contest the 2023 election. “I’ve told him that both of us should contest one more election.”

Speaking after receiving the award, Deshpande lamented that politics had seen deterioration. “We fear introducing ourselves as politicians because the opinion about us is not the same. We’re also to blame for this. If legislators do anything good, they should not see it as ‘help’, but as ‘duty’,” he said.

Last year, the ‘Best Legislator’ award went to four-time chief minister B S Yediyurappa.