Three-day event to be held from Dec. 20; Sugar Town becomes third-time host 

Bengaluru: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced yesterday that Mandya will host the 87th Akhila Bharatha Kannada Sahitya Sammelana from Dec. 20 to Dec. 22. Addressing the media after a high-level preliminary meeting at his Home Office ‘Krishna’, Siddaramaiah explained that the event, originally scheduled for June, had to be postponed to December due to the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha Polls.

“A large number of Kannadigas from within the State, across India, and abroad are expected to participate in the three-day event,” he said and assured that the State Government would provide all necessary support to the district administration and Kannada Sahitya Parishat to organise the mega event.

The CM also mentioned that the decision to finalise the President of the Sammelana would be made after the Kannada Sahitya Parishat submits a shortlist of littérateurs. He sought cooperation from various organisations, littérateurs and the public to ensure a successful event.

This will be the third time that Mandya, known as the sugar town, is hosting the event, having previously done so in 1974 and 1994. With the event scheduled during the Christmas vacation, authorities expect a large number of Kannadigas to visit Mandya.

Prominent attendees at the meeting included Agriculture and Mandya District In-charge Minister N. Cheluvarayaswamy, Kannada Sahitya Parishat President Dr. Mahesh Joshi, MLAs P. Ravikumar and Ramesh Bandisiddegowda, Political Secretaries to CM K. Govindaraju and Naseer Ahmed, Department of Kannada and Culture Secretary Dr. Ajay Nagabhushan, Mandya Deputy Commissioner Dr. Kumara and other officials.