Mysore/Mysuru: Thousands of people descended on the city to attend the valedictory of Congress’ Janandolana Convention, organised by Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) at Maharaja’s College Grounds today in the city. This mega convention is to counter the Mysuru Chalo Padayatra of BJP-JD(S).

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah came on to the dais along with his Deputy D.K. Shivakumar and AlCC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, also Karnataka In-charge, at around 12.45 pm, to the huge applause of the gathering.

The Convention has created enough buzz, with Siddaramaiah out to expose the corrupt deeds of prominent Opposition parties — BJP & JD(S) — that fought Lok Sabha polls in coalition and now undertaking Mysuru Chalo from Bengaluru, demanding CM’s resignation over the allegations of scams at MUDA and Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation Limited.

KPCC Working President and MLA Tanveer Sait, most of the Cabinet Ministers — Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa, also the Mysuru District In-charge, K. Venkatesh, Chamarajanagar District Incharge, N. Cheluvaraya Swamy, Mandya District Incharge, N.S. Boseraju, Kodagu In-charge, K. N. Rajanna, Hassan incharge, also the staunch Siddaramaiah loyalists had firmly occupied the dais, along with Home Minister Dr.G. Parameshwara, PWD Minister Satish Jarkiholi, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre, Food and Civil Supplies Minister K.H. Muniyappa, Urban  Development Minister Byrati Suresh, Women and Child Welfare Minister Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Minister for Tourism H.K. Patil, Minister for Medium and Heavy Industries M.B. Patil, RDPR Minister Priyank Kharge, Housing Minister B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Minister for Municipal Administration Rahim Khan to name a few.

MLCs Dr. Yathindra Siddaramaiah, B.K. Hariprasad and Ivan D’Souza, Chamarajanagar MP Suneel Bose, MLAs A.S. Ponnanna, K. Harishgowda, D. Ravishankar, Anil Chikkamadu, K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, Basavaraj Rayareddy and Vinay Kulkarni, former Speaker Ramesh Kumar, former Minister T.B. Jayachandra, former MLA H.P. Manjunath were also present.

The backdrop of main dais was adorned by huge portraits of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah collaged with tri-colour on one side and that of both Siddaramaiah and Dy. CM D.K. Shivakumar, holding their hands aloft, on the other side.

The pictures of Quit India Movement beneath the dais, on the either side, with a slogan Satyameva Jayate in Kannada, meaning ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’, summed up the intent behind holding the convention, as CM Siddaramaiah is claiming to be truthful to his ideology, remaining a stainless leader throughout his political career against the new found allegations of endorsing scams at Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA), where his wife B.M. Parvathi is a beneficiary of 14 sites in an upscale locality in the city, and Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes (ST) Development Corporation Limited.

The people irrespective of Congress party workers, loyalists and followers, majority of them owing allegiance to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, started coming in droves since the morning hours in vehicles arranged by the party from various parts of the district, and also the surrounding districts like- Chamarajanagar, Kodagu, Hassan, Mandya and Ramanagara.

The Convention was more a show of strength, mainly of Siddaramaiah, who hails from the district, that surpassed the showdown of the grand old party, witnessed during the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections held in the month of April, in this part of the district.

To send out a clear message against newfound bonhomie among BJP and JD(S), a huge hoarding of an advertisement issued by State BJP against JD(S) highlighting the corruption of the  latter, during 2023 Assembly elections, had been put up at the entrance of the ground.

To ensure that nothing is left unturned, the City Police had made elaborate security arrangements, frisking every entrant to the venue, with Hand Held Metal Detectors (HHMD), in addition to over 30  Door Framed Metal Detectors (DFMD), put up around the venue.

As the City Police had issued traffic advisory in advance, enforced between 6 am and 8 pm today, the vehicles driving party workers to the convention, diligently followed the sign boards put up by the Police on the roads connecting the city from rural parts of Mysuru, Hunsur, T. Narasipura and Bengaluru roads.

The convention resembled a fair, as the fast food vendors and road side vendors who had set up make-shift shops, selling chaat items, jerkins among other products, made a brisk business.