Bengaluru: The Kempegowda Award ceremony was postponed for a record fourth time on Thursday evening. This time, however, the postponement was triggered by the death of former prime minister Vajpayee.
Prior to this, the award ceremony was postponed three times because of the election code of conduct.
The programme, on Thursday, began as scheduled at 5 pm with Deputy Chief Minister Dr G Parameshwara as the Chief Guest but, only a few minutes later, news of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s death was announced, forcing the BBMP to postpone the event. This is the fourth time that the event has been postponed so far.
According to sources, the BBMP spent Rs. 40 lakhs on the event.
After the event was cancelled, DCM Dr G Parameshwara held a press conference to condole the former prime minister’s death and pay him a floral tribute at the BBMP Head Office in Bengaluru, along with Mayor Sampathraj, BBMP Commissioner Manjunath, and other Councillors.
Increase in number of awardees: An interesting point to be noted is that till 4 pm, the number of award recipients was just 275. But, by 5 pm, 25 extra names were featured on the list, taking the total to 300.
