“Ramappa Balappa Bidari, former MP from undivided Bijapur district, was among the earliest proponents of rural self-governance. Leaders like him believed in decentralisation and dreamed of a country where the real power was with the people,’’ H.K. Patil, former Minister and Congress leader, said on Thursday.
“Bidari was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. He had taken both the leaders into confidence when he introduced rural self-governance in Aundh princely state, where he served as the Prime Minister,’’ he said.
He was speaking at the release of the Kannada and English versions of the book Ramappa Balappa Bidari in Babaleshwar in Vijayapura district on Thursday.
