Daijiworld Media Network - Beltangady (SP)

Beltangady, Jul 31: Union minister for statistics and programme implementation, D V Sadananda Gowda, visited the family of Ekanath Shetty, soldier from Guruvayanakere in the taluk, who was among those who went missing along with an army aeroplane AN 32 during its flight from Tambaram to Port Blair. He talked to Shetty's wife Jayanthi and expressed solidarity with the family members of Shetty on Saturday July 30.

He gathered service and other details of Shetty and promised to do everything within his reach to help the family. He talked to Shetty's children Ashika and Akshay and advised them not to lose hope. Gowda told the family that traces of the missing plane were yet to be found and that experts from USA have been summoned to help in the matter.

He told the family that he was stuck at New Delhi because of ongoing parliamentary session till Friday and therefore he was unable to meet them. He conveyed message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and defence minister Manohar Parrikar that the government was with the soldiers and their families in their moments of crisis.

Gowda was literally into tears when he said “I understand the pain of losing a family member as I lost my son some years back."

Gowda was accompanied in the visit by MP, Nalin Kumar Kateel, former MLAs, Yogish Bhat and Prabhakar Bangera, district BJP president, Sanjeev Matandur, and several other party functionaries.