Overview

• Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s invitation to International Booker winner Banu Mushtaq to inaugurate Mysuru Dasara on September 22 remains in place, with ministers defending the event as a state cultural celebration.
• Pramoda Devi Wadiyar affirmed that the Chamundeshwari Temple follows Hindu traditions while noting the government-run Dasara is cultural and scheduled to avoid overlap with the royal family’s private rituals.
• Banu Mushtaq said she respects the festival and Goddess Chamundeshwari and called viral clips of her 2023 remarks on ‘Kannada as Bhuvaneshwari’ distortions of her views.
• JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy voiced no objection to Mushtaq leading the inauguration, even as BJP leaders demanded she clarify her stance and local outfits submitted memoranda and held protests in Mysuru.
• The dispute unfolds against an ongoing legal tussle over Chamundi Hill governance, with earlier High Court directions limiting state interference and the Wadiyar family challenging a proposed development authority.