Congress to hold mega convention on Jan 21 to commemorate Gandhi’s historic 1924 Belagavi Session

Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Wednesday said that the programmes organised to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the 1924 Indian National Congress session, which was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi, will be held in Belagavi on January 21.

The celebrations were postponed following the death of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last month.

A mega ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ convention will be held under the aegis of the AICC. Additionally, as part of the state government event, a statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled on the premises of Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi.

As part of the centenary celebrations, the extended Congress Working Committee meeting was held in Belagavi on December 26, but the statue unveiling and the mega convention that were scheduled to take place the next day were postponed following Singh’s death.

“AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, our leader Rahul Gandhi, General Secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala, and other office bearers, after discussion, have directed us to organise the remaining programmes of the Gandhi Bharat event on January 21, from where it was stopped (following Singh’s death),” Shivakumar said.

Speaking to reporters, he said that as part of the government’s event, Mahatma Gandhi’s statue will be unveiled at the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in Belagavi, to which all legislators and parliamentarians from across party lines will be invited.

“After that, the Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan convention will be held by AICC. At least 100 party leaders and workers from each assembly segment across the state should participate,” he said, adding that the dignitaries and national leaders attending these events will be announced in the days ahead.

As a preparatory measure, a general body meeting of the KPCC is being organized on January 13, followed by a meeting of the office bearers of the state Congress later that day. The Chief Minister has also called a legislature party meeting separately that evening.

All ministers and legislators have been instructed to hold a meeting in their respective constituencies on January 15 and 16 to discuss strengthening the party organisation, he added.

Responding to a question about the invitation extended to former US President Barack Obama to attend the centenary celebrations, the KPCC chief said, “We had invited him for a government programme. Let’s see during the course of the year-long celebrations. The Chief Minister has written to him. If he is coming, the government programme will be finalised after discussions.” The 39th session of the Indian National Congress, held in Belagavi in 1924, was the only Congress session presided over by Mahatma Gandhi.