BELAGAVI: The current dispensation is making all-out efforts for the success of the centenary of the 1924 National Congress Session in Belagavi which was chaired by Mahatma Gandhi. A meeting of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) working committee will be hosted at the same location where history was created 100 years ago.
The session marked Gandhi's only presidency of the Congress and shaped the future of India's freedom struggle.
Held on Dec 26 and 27, 1924, the 39th National Congress Session, had other stalwarts like Jawaharlal Nehru, Lala Lajpat Rai, C Rajagopalachari, Dr Annie Besant, Sarojini Naidu, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, Pattabhi Ramaiah, Sardar Mangal Singh (father of Bhagat Singh), Rajendra Prasad and Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya.
A prominent local leader who attended the session was Gangadhar Rao Deshpande from Belagavi, famously known as the ‘Lion of Karnataka'. He was one of the close associates of Gandhi.
The setupThe session was held in an 80-acre area with the entrance marked by Vijayanagara style of temple architecture, with a large tent that could host 5,000 delegates. Separate makeshift huts made of khadi clothes and bamboo roofs were set up for prominent delegates to rest.
A huge kitchen was set up to prepare food. Shrikhand (a milk dessert) and puri were on the menu along with rice and sambar. Thousands of lanterns and petromax lamps were brought from Mumbai for lighting purposes.
Seeds of Karnataka unificationThe Belagavi session also featured noted vocalist Veene Seshanna singing ‘Udayavagali namma chaluva Kannada Nadu' written by Huyilagola Narayana Rao. Incidentally, noted vocalist Gangubai Hangal, who was aged 9 then, was among the chorus.
TransportThe Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway created a temporary railway station close to the session venue for the benefit of delegates. Gandhi was brought to the venue through a huge procession in an open car given by Jeevan Rao Yalagi.
ExpensesThe total expense of the session was Rs 2,20,057. The funds were raised through membership and entry fees, the sale of khadi products, and some donations, including from the Mysore king and Marwari traders. There was a surplus collection of Rs 772.
The expenses included Rs 66,749 and 5 ana on transportation and telegrams, Rs 4,370 and 3 ana on digging an open well, Rs 19,545 on drinking water arrangements, Rs 23,480 and 15 ana on the construction of the pandal, Rs 28,317 and 7 ana 6 paise on food, and Rs 350 on constructing Gandhi Kutir at Vaccine Depot.
Key decisionsIt was at the Belagavi session that Gandhi revealed his formula of non-violence, non-cooperation, and civil disobedience (satyagraha) to fight the mighty British. More than 30,000 delegates from all parts of the sub-continent, cutting across socio-economic, caste and religious divides, participated in the session and pledged to make India free from the clutches of the British raj.
It was in fact, for the first time, ‘Vande Mataram', written by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, was publicly sung by Pandit Vishnu Panth Paluskar along with co-singers.
During this session, 75 Brahmin volunteers served as ‘bhangi' workers supporting the call of Gandhi to eradicate untouchability.
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