Bangalore :  “The practice of beginning the  Parliament and Assembly sessions by changing the Gayatri Mantra must be initiated in India  which is a Hindu nation just like  the sessions commence in Islamic and Christian nations with the recitation of verses from Quran and Bible respectively,” said Union Minister for Fertilizers and Chemicals Ananth Kumar.

He was speaking  at a programme organised in connection with the Golden jubilee celebrations of the Guru Narasimha Kalyana Mandir under the aegis of the Dakshina Kannada Kota Brahmanara Mitra Mandali here.

Continuing, he said “ Our Parliament and Assembly sessions begin  by offering condolences to departed leaders. This would  create a shadow of grief during the sessions. Our’s is a  secular nation and even the then prime minister Vajpayee had suggested that it would be proper to begin Parliament sessions by chanting Gayatri Mantra, he said and added  Vajpayee also believed that this would help the nation prosper and progress.

The Minister further  stressed the need to enlighten the present generation on the customs, traditions and culture of the land.

He  announced a grant of Rs 25 lakh from his MP fund for the construction of Shivaram Karanth Auditorium.

Dinesh Gundurao, Minister for Food and Civil Supplies who also spoke, said state government was contemplating to provide reservation to economically backward Brahmins and Vaishya community people.

Ravisubrahmanya, MLA, Pundalika Halambi, Kannada Sahitya Parishat President, Dr P Vishnumurthi Aithal, President of the Mitra Mandali, V Sridhar Navada, Vice President, K Sridharaiah, Secretary, H Parameshwar Basri, Assistant Secretary, AV Shashidhar Karanth, Treasurer and other were present.