Delayed preliminary meeting on Dasara set for July 31

The preparations the 2010 Dasara will begin here on July 31.

Mysore district in-charge minister S Suresh Kumar will hold the preliminary meeting regarding Dasara on that day at the deputy commissioner’s office in Mysore.

The government had decided to organise this year’s 10-day-long celebrations on a grand scale by making necessary preparations in advance. However, the enforcement of the model code on the eve of the biennial elections to the Legislative Council had put on hold the first meeting for planning preparations for the famous festivities.

The 10-day-long Dasara festival commences on September 28. In view of the delay in planning the celebrations, it will be the last minute preparations as in the previous years. The delay in filling the post of the minister in-charge of the district after Shoba Karandlaje’s resignation from the government, and the additional responsibility entrusted to Suresh Kumar have delayed the official-level meetings for taking up preparations for the celebrations.

Concern was expressed in certain quarters a few days ago over the delay in beginning preparations for this year’s Dasara by the government, which is entangled in the mining ore mire. Following the criticism over the delay, Suresh Kumar has now announced the preliminary meeting would be held on July 31.

What shadow the political developments would cast on the forthcoming Dasara, with the political showdown hotting up between the Congress and the ruling BJP, is anybody’s guess. The Congress is taking out a 16-day 320-km march to Bellary from Bangalore against the BJP government from today.

To counter the Congress challenge, the ruling party is planning huge conventions at four centres in the state beginning from August 2. A convention is planned in Mysore too on August 12 and the district minister is additionally burdened with the supervision of the convention along with two other BJP leaders. Added to these two parties, the Opposition party, the Janata Dal (Secular) is also charting out plans for a ‘Bus Yatra’ from Basava Kalyana to Chamarajanagar from October 2, led by its state president and former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy.