Not often does a person receive news of his own death. But thanks to a shocking faux pas by the Karnataka Legislative Assembly, former Ramdurg MLA, N.V. Patil, fit as a fiddle, received an official letter telling him he is dead. Adding insult to injury, the letter demanded that his family return his pension papers.. Secretary of the Legislative Assembly, N Gopalkrishna Rao, even declared the former MLA of the Janta Dal (S) had died on July 7 in the letter to his family. “As Patil is now dead, his family members should immediately return all his pension papers to the Legislative Assembly,'' Mr Rao insisted in the letter, which has left Mr Patil dumbfounded.
“It is unfortunate the government should declare me dead when I am actively involved in politics. It shows how out of touch the BJP government is due to the prevailing political uncertainty in the state,” Mr Patil said, warning that he would consult legal experts and take action against the government and the officials responsible for ‘killing' him. Seeing the humour in the situation, he however, joked that neither government officials nor ministers had bothered to contact his family till now, although he had allegedly died on July 7. JDS V-P Ashok Pujari, said when the government had not yet paid pension and other benefits to the family of a former MLA, Hirereddy, who had died a long back couldn't understand its haste in trying to put a stop to pension being paid to an MLA who was still alive.