The Karnataka government has done everything to ensure the successful hosting of the world famous Mysuru Dasara celebrations and the Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar has set up the duty of day-to-day work of the Ministers and senior leadership at the top level of government for the last week-and-a-half of the festival.
The responsibility list is for the period from September 11 to the concluding Jamboo Savari procession on September 21, and is to make the festival a seamless and memorable experience for the visitors and devotees.
According to the schedule of the state government released by the department, the ministers are to visit Mysuru on their designated dates and actively participate in Dasara festivities. The move is aimed at better coordination, monitoring of events and effective management of the large-scale celebrations that draw lakhs of tourists from all over India and abroad every year.
The festival will begin on September 11 with Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Home Minister Dr G. Parameshwara, Yathindra Siddaramaiah and Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi in charge of the day's events. On September 12, responsibilities have been assigned to K.H. Muniyappa, Assembly Speaker U.T. Khader and T. Raghumurthy. The next day, September 13, K.J. George, N. Cheluvarayaswamy and Puttaranga Shetty will oversee the celebrations.
For September 14, the government has entrusted responsibilities to M.B. Patil, K.S. Basavanthappa and Byrathi Suresh. Satish Jarkiholi, Eshwar Khandre and H.C. Balakrishna will conduct festival activities. Ramalinga Reddy, Basavaraj Rayareddy and Shivalingegowda will be involved in the administration and monitoring of the celebrations on September 16.
The responsibility schedule continues with S.S. Mallikarjun, Narendra Swamy and Ajay Singh to be responsible on September 17. Krishna Byre Gowda, Madhu Bangarappa and Rudrappa Lamani will be responsible for the activities on September 18. On September 19, responsibilities will be shared by Priyank Kharge, Rizwan Arshad and Laxman Savadi. On September 20, Sharan Prakash Patil, Zameer Ahmed Khan and Santosh Lad will organise the festival.
The final day of Dasara, September 21, will witness the famous Jamboo Savari procession of Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Deputy Chief Minister Dr G. Parameshwara, cabinet ministers, Members of Parliament, MLAs and Members of the Legislative Council. This grand procession will witness huge crowds from all over Karnataka and beyond.
Apart from the day-to-day duties, Mysuru district in-charge minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah and Kannada and Culture Minister Shivaraj Tangadagi are to take on a special role. Both leaders are to be present at Mysuru throughout the festival and oversee the coordination and running of all events. They will also be responsible for the smooth communication between departments, logistics and planning to be in touch with the organisation and also to keep track of all preparations daily.
The government has already held several review and preparation meetings in advance of the festival. Security efforts, including traffic management, cultural programmes, accommodation, sanitation, and crowd control, are being planned through a security system and traffic control plan to be implemented according to the authorities, the government said.
In the past, the district in-charge minister was responsible for Mysuru Dasara management. The decision to assign responsibilities to more than one minister is a departure from previous years. The government believes the additional ministers will help in coordination and better oversee the many events to be organised in the 10-day festival.
Politics in Karnataka is also in play now as well. Opposition BJP leaders have said that the decision to redistribute responsibility for the festival may be done to curb the influence of Yathindra Siddaramaiah in the administration of the festival by diluting the power of Yathindra Siddaramaiah. Some BJP leaders claimed that the redistribution of responsibilities is a matter of internal political considerations in the ruling party politics.
The Karnataka government says that the above decision was purely administrative and meant to make sure that one of India’s most celebrated cultural festivals is successfully run. The preparations are well underway, and ministers are given specific tasks, and Mysuru is set up for the next big edition of Dasara to celebrate Karnataka’s rich heritage, traditions and cultural pride.
