Siddaramaiah’s men seek to start varsity gold medal

MYSURU: The mega Siddaramotsava to celebrate the 75th birthday of Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah was just the beginning of a series of events planned by Congress to keep the momentum going in the runup to the 2023 polls. Now, many of Siddaramaiah’s followers have begun the process to institute a gold medal in his name in the century-old Mysore University.

The medal -- Siddaramaiah-75 Amrutha Mahothsava Chinnada Padaka -- will be awarded to toppers in the five-year law course at the university.Siddaramaiah, who himself is a law graduate, is an alumni of Mysore University.District Congress Committee president BJ Vijaykumar said the DCC being the donor, it has presented a demand draft of Rs 1.05 lakh and submitted an application to the university registrar with an appeal to institute the medal honouring the lifetime achievement of the leader, who has come from an agriculture family, and completing 45 years in active politics.

The medal/prize/scholarship will be presented to the toppers in BA.LLB from the Mysore University Law School during the annual convocation.Though university authorities have accepted the application, the Syndicate and Academic Council members have to give their final approval. Both the bodies have members, including sitting MLAs, nominated by the BJP government, and also from academic circles.

University Vice-Chancellor Prof C Hemantha Kumar said they have received a request to institute a medal after Siddaramaiah. The proposal will be tabled before the Syndicate and Academic Council, and the medal will be presented during the next convocation, he added.