Row over conversion of historic Balabrooie guest house into club

Bengaluru:The bid to convert the historic Balabrooie guest house in Bengaluru, where Mahatma Gandhi once stayed, into a club by the Congress government has stirred a row in Karnataka.

Addressing a press conference at the party office on Saturday, Brijesh Kalappa, Head of Communication Department of AAP, condemned the state government's decision to convert the Balabrooie heritage guest house in the heart of the city into a 'Constitutional Club'. He expressed his outrage that it is a shame to use the historical guest house where the Mahatma of the nation once resided as a club meant for fun and entertainment.

“This is a historic building where Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore who wrote the national anthem, the first Prime Minister and Congress icon Jawaharlal Nehru stayed. This is the guest house where Mark Cubbon stayed. Late CM Devaraj Arasu resided here for many years."

It is not right to use a guest house with such an important history where such important people have arrived and stayed for fun and entertainment. The state government should immediately abandon the decision to convert the historic heritage building into an entertainment club. Brijesh Kalappa demanded that action should be taken to conserve Balabrooie.

“If the tallest leaders of BJP like Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, Deen Dayal Upadhyay had stayed in this guest house for a few days, would the BJP not have turned Balabrooie into a temple?" He asked Congressmen how they could think of making a guest house where the tallest leaders of your own party once resided, as a center of fun and entertainment.

Trying to build a big club in a small space is unscientific. He expressed concern that a lot of trees will have to be chopped for this purpose.Senior leader and former BJP MP, Dr. Venkatesh, said that the state government should do the work of respecting historical places. Heritage recognition should be given. He said that it is not right to allow such heritage structures into an entertainment club.

"Chief Minister Siddaramaiah himself did not attend the meeting held on 31st August in this connection. It is learnt that he has objections to the conversion of the historic guest house into an entertainment club."

“While Assembly Speaker Abdul Khader, Congress MLAs Rizwan Arshad, Nayana Motamma, N.A. Harris attended the meeting. It is no secret that H K Patil, Chairman Basavaraja Horatti, Shivalinge Gowda and many senior ministers and MLAs who were present in the meeting do not support the idea of making a club. Why do you proceed to make an entertainment club even if there is no consensus in the meeting? Whose pressure is behind this? Brijesh

Kalappa asked.