Friends turn foes: War of words between Vishweshwar Bhat and Prakash Raj over book launch

All hell has broken loose ever since Chief Minister of Karnataka, Siddaramaiah accepted an invitation to launch 3 volumes of  “Sampadaka Sathyashodane” authored by journalist Vishweshwar Bhat. Kavitha Lankesh, sister of Gauri Lankesh, a journalist who was assassinated, had pointed out instances in the past, wherein Vishweshwar Bhat had jibed Mamata Banerjee comparing her Bengali mancha (stage) to the Kannada 'mancha' (bed) and commented that had Gauri Lankesh died of alcohol instead of bullets, it would not have been covered beyond a single column, and projected him (Bhat) as a misogynistic individual with whom the Chief Minister must not have any association. 

Actor Prakash Raj also jumped into the bandwagon and tweeted,” Samaanya Siddaramiah ravare…Dayavittu omme yochisi…idhu thamage shobeyalla ( Esteemed CM Siddaramiah, kindly give this a thought, this doesn’t augur well on you)” as part of his #justasking series. 

ಸನ್ಮಾನ್ಯ @siddaramaiah ರವರೆ… ದಯವಿಟ್ಟು ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಯೋಚಿಸಿ .. ಇದು ತಮಗೆ ಶೊಭೆಯಲ್ಲ … 🙏🏿🙏🏿🙏🏿#justaskingpic.twitter.com/LoI9uwfbW6

— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) July 16, 2023

Vishweshwar Bhat had shared photos of himself alongside Prakash Raj in earlier book launches and captions it with  "Memories never fade away”. 

Prakash Raj replied to this by saying, these are regrettable memories of not knowing the poison within you. Vishweshwar Bhat called this Prakash Raj’s double standards and a convenient lie. He recalled an incident when Prakash Raj’s second wife wanted to visit the Kukke Subramanya temple to rid herself of “Sarpa Dosha” so that she could conceive. Vishweshwar Bhat had helped in facilitating their journey and had even been thanked by Prakash Raj when he fathered a child a year later. He used this as an instance to prove his point that Prakash Raj is a hypocrite who wears a facade of progressiveness.

ಕೆಲ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ, ಒಂದು ದಿನ ಪ್ರಕಾಶ ರಾಜ್ ನನಗೆ ಫೋನ್ ಮಾಡಿದರು.

'ನನ್ನ ಎರಡನೇ ಪತ್ನಿಗೆ ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಗಿಲ್ಲ. ಸರ್ಪದೋಷವಿದೆಯೆಂದು ಪತ್ನಿಗೆ ಯಾರೋ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕುಕ್ಕೆಗೆ ಹೋಗಿ ಸರ್ಪದೋಷ ನಿವಾರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಅವಳು ಬಯಸಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ಹಾಗೆ ಮಾಡಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳದ ವಿನಃ ಮಕ್ಕಳಾಗುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ಅಂತ ಅವಳಿಗೆ ಮನವರಿಕೆ ಆಗಿದೆ. ನಿಮಗೆ ಅಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾರಾದಾದರೂ… pic.twitter.com/KFdei1szBE

— Vishweshwar Bhat (@VishweshwarBhat) July 18, 2023