Belgaum: As Belgaum is all set to host the "historic" session of the State legislature from September 25 to 29, the occasion reminds people of a historic event dating back to 1924.

Belgaum, which is also called "Venugram," played a significant role in the freedom struggle. The city was the venue of the historic 39th Congress session from December 26 to 28, 1924. The session was presided over by Mahatma Gandhi and attended by all the national leaders.

The session was historic in many ways.

The Swaraj Party returned to the Congress fold ("I am stooping to conquer," said Gandhiji over his negotiations with the party then), the three-day event resulted in growth of the Congress party in Belgaum and other parts of Karnataka, besides giving impetus to nationalist work and growth of the Khadi movement.

Dispute

However, after Independence and reorganisation of State, Belgaum remained a disputed territory with Marathi linguistics staking their claim over the town along with other towns such as Bidar, Nippani, Khanapur and Karwar in north Karnataka.

The former Chief Minister the late Gundu Rao was the first to positively respond to the demand of north Karnataka people to hold a legislative session in Belgaum to discuss specific issues pertaining to border areas. Owing to lack of infrastructure, he promised to convene Cabinet meetings in all the divisional headquarters such as Belgaum and Gulbarga in north Karnataka.

Accordingly, although it was a one-day sitting, it was the first Cabinet meeting outside State capital in Belgaum in 1982.

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