A giant cloth banner, music album and food for 5 lakh people are among the highlights of former Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday celebrations today
A 3km long fabric banner featuring photos from his life, a music album with songs about him and a meal for 5 lakh supporters are among the highlights of the 75 Davangere celebrations on Wednesday.
The congress leader’s 75th birthday celebration was organized by many of the former Prime Minister’s supporters to show the popular support and financial support he enjoys at the Karnataka Congress ahead of the 2023 state elections, which the party likely believes it will be your favour.
Famous guests at the event include senior congressional executives including AICC Vice President Rahul Gandhi, Secretary General K.C. Venugopal and Head of the State Congress D.K. Shivakumar. The event attendance list is missing veteran congressional leaders K H Munyappa and SR Patil, who have opposed Siddaramaiah’s rule over Congress.
The celebrations take place in the grounds of the Shamanur Palace in the Davangere region of central Karnataka, which is said to be centrally located and accessible to people from all corners of the state. Davangere is also considered a promising place to start election campaigns, as Congress has won state elections in the past when the election signal is sounded from this region.
While the city was inundated with posters and clippings from Siddaramaiah and other convention leaders, one of the highlights of the celebrations is a cloth banner running along a 3km route. The banner, which depicts Siddaramaiah’s life in the form of a film reel, was created by a Saundatti supporter identified as Anand Chopra. The banner was printed in Surat and brought to Davangere on Tuesday.
A music album created to commemorate Siddaramaiah’s 75th birthday contains songs claiming he is 75 years old as India, celebrating its 75th anniversary of independence on August 15th. Also included on the album are songs praising Siddaramaiah as a political leader and choosing him as the future prime minister of the state.
Cooking for the event began on July 27, and local restaurateurs prepared up to 6,000 Mysore Pak sweets to give away. Up to 400 food stands will serve Bisi bele bath, veg pulao, curd rice and Mysore pak to the expected 5 lakh participants in the Wednesday afternoon celebration.
A cultural support program completes the celebrations with a laser show. “It is just an amrithotsav birthday and not a siddaramautsav. It is also a celebration of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi,” Siddaramaiah said before the event. “The Congress party will be strengthened by the event,” he said.
Unlike a birthday party for former BJP CM B S Yediyurappa, which even included opposition leaders like Siddaramaiah, the Siddaramaiah celebrations are largely a congressional event with no opposition leaders present.
Congressional leadership attempted to reduce the focus on the event for Siddaramaiah as AICC leaders Rahul Gandhi and Venugopal visited a Lingayat mongrel dog in the region to gain support from the ruling Lingayat community in northern Karnataka.
