Prakash Deshpande, senior journalist and Kannada writer, died of COVID-19-related complications in Hukkeri of Belagavi district on Wednesday.
He was 70. He served as a stringer and correspondent for various Kannada and English newspapers. He served as chairman of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat in Hukkeri.
He organised some Kannada Sahitya Sammelan conferences and acted as a bridge between Kannada and Marathi communities in this border district.
His interview with Indira Gandhi during her visit to the State after the Emergency was widely read. He had brought out a poetry collection and a book on his experiences as a journalist covering rural areas. He is survived by his wife and two children.
Mangala Metgud, district president of the Sahitya Parishat, has mourned the death of Prakash Deshpande.