Siddaramaiah makes audience wait for four hours

Waiting for more than four hours for the chief minister brought down the audience at the National College from a houseful to just about 100.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was to arrive at 11 am to inaugurate the centenary celebrations of the Basavanagudi Cooperative Society Limited at the College Grounds, but he came only at 3.15 pm. Siddaramaiah explained that he arrived late as he had to attend another event at Suttur Mutt in Mysore, but, by then, a hungry and disappointed audience had already decided to leave the venue.

Renowned lexicographer and centenarian G Venkatasubbaiah, however, waited for the chief minister all through. Other guests, including Bangalore South MP Ananth Kumar, Mayor B S Satyanarayana and Bangalore In-charge Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who had come in the morning, too had left before the start of the event.

Siddaramaiah, congratulating the Basavanagudi Sahakara Sangha on the occasion, said that the government would extend full support for its work. “We will consider the proposal and then extend monetary support,” he added.

40 lakh members

He added that the Yeshasvini health scheme would be extended to the 40 lakh members of urban cooperative societies too, from this month. He said that the societies must be free from any sort of political influence, in order to function efficiently.

H S Mahadeva Prasad, Minister for Cooperation, said that very few cooperative societies managed to survive the competitive hurdles set by the major retailers in the consumer sector.

The Basavanagudi Cooperative Society, in order to commemorate the completion of 100 years, would get a new building.

Rs 25 lakh

Ananth Kumar has agreed to donate a sum of Rs 25 lakh from the MPLAD fund for the work, while Basavanagudi legislator L A Ravi Subramanya has volunteered to give Rs 10 lakh, said sources.