How can you make the smile disappear from the ever smiling Chief Minister Sadananda Gowda’s face and make him frown instead? All it needs is a personal remark on the smile which has captured the imagination of the world.

It happened on Monday when farmer leader K.S. Puttannaiah took the CM to task for ignoring farmers in the state. The CM should make them smile like he does, said Mr Puttannaiah and was greeted with a scowl from Mr Gowda. Taken aback, Mr Puttannaiah was quick to apologize on the dais itself. The occasion was ‘Raithotsava’, a function to mark the birth anniversary of farmer leader late Prof. Nanjundaswamy. Mr Puttannaiah, who spoke before the CM, came down heavily on the present political system. And then came the swipe at Mr Gowda. “Like his name, Mr Sadananda Gowda seems to be a happy man all the time. He always smiles. It is not enough if he alone smiles. He should come to the rescue of farmers and make them smile too,’’ he said.

When it was Mr Gowda’s turn to speak, he did not mince words and came down heavily on Mr Puttannaiah. “If I have a smiling face, it is God’s gift. I don’t like people making petty comments on the issue. I am not mad to keep smiling for no reason. People should be serious when they speak at a public forum,’’ he said. Mr Puttannaiah rose to make a clarification but Mr Gowda did not allow him to speak and continued his speech. When he was leaving, Mr Puttannaiah tried to explain that he did not mean any offence in his speech. Mr Sadananda Gowda patted him on his back and left the venue.