Mysuru – Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday laid the foundation stone for the new Congress office, Indira Congress Bhavana, at the site of the party’s existing premises. Calling on workers to support the project, he said even small contributions — from ₹500 onwards — would help, and urged completion within a year.
During the event, party workers attempted to mark his birthday with a cake-cutting, but Siddaramaiah declined, saying he had never done so. He did, however, accept a felicitation. Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar, calling the new building a “temple for Congress workers and a guardian of democracy,” encouraged contributions starting from ₹100 and sought donations from all Mysuru district MLAs.
Shivakumar also highlighted the need for Congress offices in every taluk and urged the CM and district minister H.C. Mahadevappa to prioritise this. Narasimharaja MLA Tanveer Sait hailed Shivakumar as his political mentor.
The land for the office was secured in 1980 by former CM Devaraj Urs. Nagabhushan Tiwari, who has safeguarded the property for decades, was felicitated. Party leaders noted the site could have been leased to the railways for parking revenue but was retained for party use.
Several ministers, MLAs, and senior Congress leaders attended the ceremony, including H.C. Mahadevappa, K. Venkatesh, H.M. Revanna, Pushpa Amarnath, Harish Gowda, Darshan Dhruvanarayan, Ravishankar, Yathindra Siddaramaiah, V.S. Ugrappa, Somashekar, and spokesperson Lakshman.