JD(S) temporary office likely in Vokkaligara Bhavan

The JD(S) is likely to rent 4,000 sq ft on the third floor of Vokkaligara Bhavan at Hudson Circle here to house its office temporarily. 

The party, which had to vacate its old office on Race Course Road following a Supreme Court judgment, is literally out on the streets without an office. It has stored the office material and stationery on a vacant plot behind the Race Course Road property but has to move them out. 

Sources in the JD(S) said the party had been unable to rent a suitable place in Bengaluru to house its office because property owners were not sure it would pay rent on time. The JD(S) national president, H D Deve Gowda, had zeroed in on a property near Rajajinagar but things didn’t work out. 

In a last-ditch effort last week, the party applied to Vokkaligara Sangha seeking the vacant space in the Vokkaligara Bhavan. On Wednesday, the Sangha decided to rent the space to the JD(S) for six months. According to Sangha office-bearers, the space was previously occupied by the excise commissionerate which vacated it last year. 

JD(S) spokesperson Ramesh Babu said that the Vokkaligara Sangha office would be a temporary arrangement. While the final decision on renting the space rests with Gowda, JD(S) sources said there was no other option but to occupy it. If the JD(S) occupies the Vokkaligara Bhavan office, it may reinforce the perception that it is mainly a party of Vokkaligas. 

“With the contempt petition in the Supreme Court, and the Execution Order likely to come up for hearing in Bengaluru on Thursday, we were literally out on the streets. We had no option but to have a temporary office in the Vokkaligara Bhavan,” he said. The party may shift its material and furniture to the temporary office next week.