Former CM Siddaramaiah at an event where his staunch supporter Beerihundi Basavanna, a former ZP member, assumed office as the president of the Mysuru District Congress Committee
He expressed appreciation for Vijay Kumar, who has been involved in the district party organisation for 13 years. He said the party must begin grassroots mobilisation ahead of the gram panchayat, taluk panchayat and zilla panchayat elections, followed by the 2028 assembly and 2029 Lok Sabha polls. Calling upon the Karnataka Congress cadre to work for victory in all 28 Lok Sabha constituencies in 2029, he said the party should strive to make Rahul Gandhi Prime Minister.
Emphasising Congress’s contribution to nation-building, he said the party had played a significant role in the freedom struggle and, after Independence, helped lay the foundation for the country’s development through investments in education, irrigation, industry, power and road infrastructure. Siddaramaiah said political equality alone was not sufficient, and stressed the need for economic and social empowerment of women, the poor, Dalits, backward classes and minorities to achieve genuine equality and eliminate caste discrimination. Recalling former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi ’s initiatives to strengthen women’s representation in local self-govt institutions, he said Congress had consistently worked to expand political participation and representation.
Speaking at a programme in Mysuru where Beerihundi Basavanna took charge as Mysuru District Congress Committee president, Siddaramaiah urged the new leadership to build on the organisational work of outgoing president BJ Vijaykumar and unite party leaders and workers without discrimination. Referring to govt’s welfare programmes, Siddaramaiah urged party workers to take their benefits and the Congress ideology to every household. Congress has a strong organisational base in Mysuru district, which had contributed significantly to the party coming to power twice in Karnataka, he stated. Mysuru district minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, MLA K Venkatesh and MLC K Shivakumar were present.
Mysuru: Congress is a party that represents people of all communities, castes and religions and remains committed to social justice, secularism and equality, said former chief minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday.