Mysuru: CM Siddaramaiah, along with Dy.CM and KPCC President D.K. Shivakumar performed the ‘Bhumi Puja’ for the Smt. Indira Gandhi Congress Bhavan near the City Railway Station this morning.

Siddaramaiah said this would be the first Indira Gandhi Bhavan in the State to house the Congress office. He noted that the building, designed with heritage features to reflect Mysuru’s rich cultural legacy, is expected to be completed within a year. He urged party workers to contribute financially. Shivakumar described the Smt. Indira Gandhi Congress Bhavan as a “temple for Congressmen”.

Party workers brought a cake to celebrate Siddaramaiah’s birthday, but the CM declined to cut it, saying he had never cut a cake. However, on the insistence of City Congress President R. Murthy, he accepted a felicitation.

District Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, Animal Husbandry Minister K. Venkatesh, MLAs Tanveer Sait, K. Harish Gowda, D. Ravishankar and Darshan Dhruvanarayan, MLC Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Guarantee Schemes Implementation Authority Chairman H.M. Revanna, Vice-Chairperson Dr. Pushpa Amarnath, ex-MP V.S. Ugrappa, ex-MLA M.K. Somashekar and District Congress President Dr. B.J. Vijaykumar were present.

The Smt. Indira Gandhi Congress Bhavan is being built at a cost of about Rs. 10 crore, with facilities to accommodate 1,000 people. It will include a poll war room, a media hall, a boardroom, and other amenities, all housed within a heritage-style structure.