Hassan: Days after CM Siddaramaiah threw his support behind Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, state govt on Wednesday visited the writer at her residence in Hassan city and extended a formal invitation to inaugurate the Dasara festival.A team of senior officials led by Mysuru DC G Lakshmikanth Reddy, who is also the Dasara special officer, met the writer and invited her to inaugurate the Dasara festival atop the Chamundi Hills. The festival will commence on Sept 22.ADC P Shivaraju, Mysuru zilla panchayat chief executive officer Ukesh Kumar S, Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) commissioner Shaikh Tanveer Asif, and Shree Chamundeshwari Kshetra Development Authority secretary MJ Roopa were present.Banu Mushtaq, after accepting the invitation, said that she is happy to accept the official invitation to inaugurate Dasara. “I thank the state govt, chief minister Siddaramaiah, and the people of the state,” she said. She informed that she is yet to finalise her Mysuru tour plan. “I am traveling abroad on an invitation. After returning home, I will decide my itinerary,” she said.Reddy said that as per state govt’s decision to invite Mushtaq, the Mysuru district administration met and invited her. It was a special occasion, he said.
