Finally, JD(S) vacates 'Congress home'

BENGALURU: The JD(S) vacated the "Congress Bhavan" near the Anand Rao Circle, lock, stock and barrel on Sunday, bringing to an end decades-long political and legal battles. Gowda, who arrived at the premises at 8 am, oversaw the shifting of the property — mostly furniture and portraits of Janata Parivar leaders — while sitting outside on a chair and sometimes in his car. No other leader was visible in the office except for the staff. Four truck loads of property were moved out, marking the end of the Janata Parivar's control over the structure which sent Ramakrishna Hegde, S R Bommai, J H Patel, H D Kumaraswamy and JD(S) supremo H D Deve Gowda to the CM's post. The property was taken to a godown in Hennur, east Bengaluru, belonging to a party functionary. "We have asked for 3-4 rooms in Hotel Maurya at Anand Rao Circle to be used as office temporarily. Once we get permanent space, we will put a shed to function," Gowda told reporters. As part of the shifting done on directives from the Supreme Court order recognizing the stone and mortar structure as a property of the Congress, the JD(S) board was removed, bringing to the fore an engraving, Congress Bhavan, which had remained masked for decades. As the main JD(S) board near the flag post was removed, a stone carving with the words "Congress Bhavan" was seen. Veteran Congressman Rangaswamy had donated the land to the Congress in 1949 and the building was constructed with funds donated by party workers. The building went to Janata Parivar hands when the Congress (O) headed by S Nijalingappa merged with the former in 1977. The City Civil Court, where was legal battle began in 1982, pronounced in 2005 that the land and the building belonged to the Congress. The Karnataka High Court upheld the order in 2013 and the apex court affirmed it 2014. Vacating the office has been a bitter pill to swallow for Gowda and his son HD Kumaraswamy who are already facing the heat from party legislators. The apex court's verdict came at a time when their bete noire Siddaramaiah is heading the government in the state. The both have blamed the chief minister for not providing BBMP or BDA land to the JD(S) to open a new office. Dashing off a letter to KPCC president G Parameshwara, Gowda said the keys of building would be sent to the Congress office soon. -TOI