CM, Cabinet colleagues travel in KSTDC double-decker bus

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar receiving a memento as prasada from a priest at Kadri Shree Manjunatha Temple in Mangaluru on Friday.
| Photo Credit:
ANI

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar interacting with a group of 20 social media influencers at a hotel in Mangaluru on Friday morning.
| Photo Credit:
Dhiraj Shetty 10360

Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and his Cabinet colleagues travelled in the open-top portion of a KSTDC double-decker bus from Circuit House to Praja Soudha, the venue of the Cabinet meeting, in Mangaluru on Friday.

The ride was initially planned from the Kadri Manjunatha temple. Following the delayed arrival of Mr. Shivakumar at the temple after completing his one-hour-long interactions with social media influencers at a hotel and department secretaries at the circuit house, the programme was changed. Mr. Shivakumar and his colleagues left the temple in a KSRTC Ambari Club Class vehicle at 11.45 a.m. for the circuit house.

There, Mr. Shivakumar offered floral tributes to soldiers at the war memorial in front of the circuit house. He then boarded the open top of the KSTDC bus and started the journey to Praja Soudha in Padil. He was joined by Ministers U.T. Khader, Priyank Kharge, B.Z. Zameer Ahmed Khan, Rizwan Arshad, K.J. George, K.M. Shivalinge Gowda, Shivaraj Tangadagi, K.S. Basavanthappa, Rudrappa Lamani, Ajay Singh and P.M. Narendra Swamy. Most of the Ministers sported hats to ward off the heat.

As the bus approached Bhagwan Mahavir (Pumpwell) Circle, Congress workers led by MLC Ivan D’Souza burst crackers. From here, the procession began, led by a group of artists wearing different costumes. They were followed by drummers, Congress activists, and then the open-top bus. Flower petals were showered on the Ministers and party poppers were burst midway. The procession moved at a snail’s pace and reached the Praja Soudha around 1 p.m. The police had stopped the movement of other vehicles on this nearly 3-km stretch during the period.

Earlier, at the Kadri Manjunatha temple, Mr. Shivakumar was offered a Poornakumbha swagatha by temple priests led by Tantri Vittal Das. Before the presiding deity, Kadri Manjunatha, hereditary priest Raghavendra made the Chief Minister perform sankalpa for panchamrutabhisheka and Ekashata Rudrabhisheka. Mr. Shivakumar offered pranams to the deity by placing his head in front of the sanctum sanctorum and left the temple with his Cabinet colleagues.