NEW DELHI: Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya (PMS) will celebrate the 93rd birth anniversary of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda on Tuesday. Along with commemorative programmes, the museum will also be celebrating International Museum Day.
The programmes are designed to honour India’s democratic leadership and also promote awareness regarding museums, heritage preservation, and cultural education, read a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Museum and Library (PMML) on Monday.
On this occasion, a commemorative exhibition on Gowda featuring photographs, archival documents, and his personal belongings is being organised, offering visitors an insight into his leadership and contribution.
“An exhibition showcasing the ethnographic objects from the PMS collection and two short films, one on the PMS and one about Deve Gowda, will be screened during the day,” said an official.
The Chairman of the Executive Council of the PMS Nripendra Misra and the daughter-in-law of the former PM Dr Sowmya Ramesh will be present.
The director of the PMML, Ashwani Lohani, said, “Through these exhibitions and special screenings, Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya seeks to strengthen public engagement with India’s political history, cultural diversity, and museum heritage.”
Gowda resigned as Karnataka CM on May 30, 1996, to be sworn in as the 11th PM. He was born on May 18, 1933, in Haradanahalli village of Hassan District in Karnataka. A civil engineering diploma holder, Deve Gowda plunged into active politics at the early age of 20 when he joined the Congress Party in 1953 and remained a member till 1962.
Gowda contested the Karnataka Assembly election as an independent at the age of 28. He was elected to Parliament from the Hassan Lok Sabha constituency in 1991. He became the president of the Janta Party twice at state level and president of state Janata Dal in 1994. He was elected the leader of the Janata Dal Legislative Party in 1994, and assumed office as the 14th CM of Karnataka.