Belagavi meet is Jai Bapu-Jai Bhim-Jai Samvidhan convention

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the mega public meeting to be held in Belagavi on December 27 is named as Jai Bapu-Jai Bhim-Jai Samvidhan convention.

Addressing a press conference at the CPED School grounds, he said, “We have de-clared this area as Mahatma Gandi Navanagara. The Congress Working Committee meeting would be held near Gandhi well. Mahatma Gandhi presided over the Con-gress convention in 1924. It is a matter of pride that our own Mallikarjun Kharge is presiding over this convention. We are conducting this convention in the same 80-acre land which was the venue for the 1924 convention.”

“We have organized this event to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the 1924 convention. It is not just a Congress party function but everyone’s programme. The CWC will discuss challenges facing the country. Leaders from across the country will take part in the convention,” he said.

“We have collected the report of the 1924 convention and we will release a reprinted version tomorrow. A statue of Mahatma Gandhi would be unveiled at Veera Soudha at 10 am on December 26. Khadi mela would be inaugurated at 10:45 am. Chief Min-ister and I will inaugurate Sri Gangadhar Deshpande Memorial. A photo gallery of Gangadhar Deshpande will also be inaugurated. The CWC meeting would be held at 3 pm and AICC President will host a dinner for the guests at 7 pm,” he explained.

“On December 27, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi would unveil the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Suvarna Soudha at 10:30 am. The CM will be the Chairman and the programme will be held under the joint leadership of Speaker U T Khader and Council Chairman Basvaraj Horatti. All leaders cutting across party lines have been invited for the event. A mega public meeting will be held at 1 pm,” he said.

“We have illuminated the entire city of Belagavi for the centenary celebrations. The people of the state, especially those in Kitturu Karnataka region, must witness the lighting. The Sevadal volunteers will escort CWC members through a padayatra where they will participate in the CWC meeting,” he said.

“Various programmes have been organized throughout the year as part of the 100th anniversary. We had organized Gandhi Walk on October 2 to mark the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi,” he added.

When asked why the Belagavi district-in charge minister hasn’t been given the re-sponsibility of the convention, he said organizational responsibilities have already been given to him.

Asked about the agenda of the CWC meeting, he said, “Our national leaders would finalize the agenda. The draft committee has been discussing the agenda for some time now.” Asked if the incident of insult to Ambedkar would be discussed in the meeting, he said the event has been named ‘Jai Bapu-Jai Bhim-Jai Samvidhan con-vention’.

Queried if there would holidays for schools and colleges for two days in view of the event, he said that would not be possible. A decision may be taken regarding that for schools located near the venue. Replying to a query on his visit to the Police Com-missioner’s office, he said, “The Home Minister and I visited the Police Commission-er. We discussed the security and traffic arrangements.”

When questioned about Belagavi MP Jagadish Shettar expressing displeasure about not being invited to the event in a respectful way, he said, “We will ensure red carpet till his house. The Chief Minister called him in my presence.

His name is there in the invitation too.

He could not give a respectful farewell to his relative Suresh Angadi, why did he not talk then?

Asked why a proposal about the event hasn’t gone to the Centre, he said, “We are doing this programme in our state.

Let the Centre do this programme too, aren’t they aware of the importance of the event? BJP can’t take credit for Gandhiji’s contribution, it solely belongs to the Congress party.”