Udupi: Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Minister Rizwan Arshad has been appointed as the Udupi district in-charge minister, adding a new responsibility to his role in the Karnataka Cabinet.
Arshad takes charge of Udupi
Arshad, 46, is a BCom graduate and represents Bengaluru’s Shivajinagar constituency. He was first elected as an MLA in the 2019 Shivajinagar by-election and is serving his first term as a Cabinet minister.
He began his political journey through the NSUI in 1995-96 and later served as a Senate member of Mysore University.
Between 2004 and 2010, Arshad served as state vice-president and later national secretary of the Youth Congress. In 2011, he became the first elected president of the Karnataka Youth Congress.
Busy Independence Day schedule
Arshad arrived in Udupi on Friday night ahead of the district’s 80th Independence Day celebrations.
On Saturday, he is scheduled to hoist the National Flag and deliver the Independence Day message at the main celebrations at the Mahatma Gandhi District Stadium in Ajjarkad.
His day begins at 7.30 am with a flag-hoisting programme organised by the District Congress Seva Dal near the City Service Bus Stand. He will then attend the flag-hoisting ceremony at the District Congress office in Nairkere at 8 am.
At 8.30 am, Arshad will pay homage to martyrs at the memorial near Ajjarkad Stadium, followed by the foundation-stone laying ceremony for a basketball court and the inauguration of roofing work at the stadium.
Development programmes on schedule
Following the main Independence Day programme at 9 am, Arshad is scheduled to attend a Youth Congress programme at 12 noon.
He will later inaugurate the Illu Foods masala powder unit of the Udupi Mahila Kisan Producer Company at the Shivalli Horticulture Farm in Doddanagudde.
At 12.30 pm, he is scheduled to inaugurate the ‘Akka Cafe’ organised by the Zilla Panchayat near Nairkere Road in Brahmagiri before proceeding to Mangaluru.