A flashback to Belgaum Congress session when Gandhiji refused to stay in ‘expensive’ hut Premium

The centenary celebrations of the Congress session in 1924, which was chaired by Mahatma Gandhi, at Belagavi (as Belgaum is now called), was inaugurated on December 26. The event concludes on December 27.

Months of hard work by several hundred workers and volunteers went into the successful organisation of the Belgaum Congress session in 1924, which was chaired by Mahatma Gandhi. The centenary celebrations of this event at Belagavi (as Belgaum is now called), was inaugurated on December 26. The event concludes on December 27.

Congress workers had back then created Vijaya Nagara, a new township on around 100 acres of land between the Military Camp and the Vaccine Depot Ground at Tilakwadi, for the plenary session.

Gangadhar Rao Deshpande, Congress leader and Khadi activist, was among Gandhiji’s close associates. Deshpande was the chairman of the reception committee for the 1924 session. A memorial hall in his name was inaugurated as part of the ongoing centenary celebrations.

Despande served as AICC general secretary along with other leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru and Saifuddin Kitchlew. At the 38th Congress session in Kakinada, Deshpande and his followers placed a demand for conducting the next session in Belagavi. They prevailed upon the senior leadership and outbid attempts by leaders from Mangaluru, Dharwad and Mysuru to hold the session in their cities.

He and his team worked for nearly 10 months to prepare for the two-day session. They dug out a huge well and named it ‘Pampa Sarovara’ to provide water for the delegates. This water body, now known as the Congress Well, continues to yield sweet water to this day.

However, tragedy struck during digging of the well. A nine-year-old boy, Babu Harapanahalli, fell into it accidentally and died. Some workers thought it was a bad omen. But Deshpande asked them to continue the work, saying there was no place for blind belief in such honest and good work.

Veteran Gandhians N.S. Hardikar and Kaka Karakhanis formed a team of volunteers that took up all kinds of work, including sanitation in the dry latrines. Gandhiji appreciated this with a special mention in the Young India later.