Basavanna assumes leadership of Mysuru Rural Congress unit

Beerihundi Basavanna has taken charge as president of the Mysuru Rural District Congress Committee at a function attended by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah in Mysuru. Urban Development Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, who was also present, urged the new district president to strengthen the Congress organisation by bringing different groups together and upholding democratic, secular and egalitarian values. Yathindra described Basavanna as a grassroots leader who had risen through local government.

He said Basavanna had served three times as a Gram Panchayat member, once as a Gram Panchayat president, as a Zilla Panchayat member and as chairman of the local body’s standing committee. The minister said the Congress had entrusted Basavanna with heading the district unit so that his experience could be used to develop the organisation. He said the new president’s responsibility was greater and called on him to ensure inclusiveness.

Yathindra also expressed confidence that Basavanna would be able to address organisational responsibilities after witnessing the problems faced by people from the Gram Panchayat level through to the Zilla Panchayat. He congratulated Basavanna and thanked outgoing district Congress president B.J. Vijay Kumar for his service during a 13-year tenure leading the Mysuru Rural District Congress Committee.

Siddaramaiah presided over the event. MLAs K. Venkatesh, D.

Ravishankar, Anil Chikkamadu and Darshan Dhruvanarayan, along with Legislative Council members D. Thimmaiah and K. Shivakumar, attended.

Former MLAs M.K. Somashekar and H.P. Manjunath were also present.

Basavanna’s appointment places him in charge of the party’s rural district unit, with the minister specifically linking his local-government experience to the task of strengthening the organisation.