Minister compares U R Ananthamurthy with Poonam Pandey

Bangalore, Sept 18: A Jnanpith award and a Padma Bhushan winner, U R Ananthamurthy must be wondering what went wrong when former BJP Spokesperson from

, Ayanur Manjunath compared him with actress Poonam Pandey.

The minister blames it on the revered author's alleged influence on the central government, which helped him win many awards across the year. But those, who have read his novels and stories, believe otherwise.

A social reformist and a critic who believes in an 'ideal' society may be wrongly inflicted with allegations that he does not deserve.

A pioneer in the Navya movement, Ananthamurthy is the sixth person to have won the highest literary honour conferred in India. Some of the other awards that he has won include Rajyothsava Award in 1984, Maasti in 1995, Nadoja Award by Kannada University in 2008, and was shortlisted for the Hindu Literary Prize in 2011.

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