Postponed due to Manmohan Singh's demise, Karnataka Congress' Gandhi Bharatha event rescheduled for Jan 21

Gandhi Bharatha celebrations were initially slated for December 27.

Bengaluru: Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said on Wednesday that the Gandhi Bharatha programme to commemorate the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi assuming the Congress presidency will be held on January 21 in Belagavi.

The Congress Working Committee meeting was held in Belagavi on December 26. While the Gandhi Bharatha celebrations were slated for December 27. It was postponed after the demise of former prime minister Manmohan Singh on December 26 night.

On January 21, the government programme to unveil Mahatma Gandhi’s statue in Belagavi will be held first, where legislators from all parties will be invited. This will be followed by the ‘Jai Bapu - Jai Bhim - Jai Samvidhan’ event organised by the AICC.

“As per the guidelines of the CWC meeting on plans for 2025, we are restarting the programme. There was a seven-day mourning and we could not undertake anything then. At least 100 leaders and cadres from all the Assembly constituencies should participate in this programme.”

CLP meeting

Shivakumar noted that a KPCC general body meeting will be held on January 13, in the run-up to the event. This will be followed by a programme of KPCC office-bearers and later, the Congress Legislature Party meeting.

The deputy chief minister acknowledged a paucity of time for elaborate logistical arrangements but noted that they were compelled to conduct the programme on January 21, since the AICC had planned a programme on January 26 at Mhow in Madhya Pradesh, the birthplace of Dr B R Ambedkar.

He noted that there were suggestions to release a few books, including one about the background of the 1924 Belgaum session, the major decisions taken then and so on.