Bengaluru, Nov. Nov 23 (IANS): Frustrated over not getting required support from the state Congress leaders, a former Congress legislator and Bagalkote district congress president, S. G. Nanjayyanamath is carrying a "begging bag" (Bhiksha Jolige) to complete the ongoing construction work of the party office.

Bagalkote District Congress president, Nanjayyanamath told IANS that he was literally frustrated over asking donations from Congress leaders to complete the ongoing construction of the party office.

The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 50 lakh, and he has been able to raise nearly Rs 3 lakh from the public, while leaders like S. R. Patil, Anand Nyamagouda, Umashree and Sarnyak have contributed about Rs 12 lakh.

Besides this, he has been able to get material donation like three loads each of bricks, sand and cement.

"I do not wish to blame anyone as the DCC president, I had taken onus of building the office, which I am doing. Whenever I met top leaders, I sought their help. They had one excuse or the other to defer it. But contractors who had taken-up construction work wanted money badly. So, I thought it was better to reach out to people in Bagalkote, instead of running around top leaders' houses in Bengaluru seeking donations," he said.

He quickly added that he was not doing it to prove anything; it was the only way he could express his gratitude towards his party that gave him opportunities whenever he was politically down too.

"I was an MLA from this party. I was the Karnataka Housing Board chairman besides, I headed the reorganising committee of gram panchayats when Siddaramaiah was the Chief Minister," Nanjayyanamath said.

Nanjayyanmath rued that in Bagalkote at present there are 18 Zilla Panchayat members and about 60 Taluka Panchayat members who did not donate a single paisa but they had umpteen excuses.

"This is not just an isolated case but this is sufficient to prove how much I must have gone through to collect donations. This is when I decided instead of asking these leaders it was better to go to people and ask them to contribute," he said

He added that his begging campaign has achieved a decent traction among people, some of them have donated in kind - like a bag of cement to three loads of sand.

"For me individually, this is a good opportunity to meet people. When we go to them asking for votes why not for donations?" he questions laughingly.

He added that incumbent KPCC president, D. K. Shivakuamr had promised to donate Rs 5 lakh but the Bagalkote DCC is yet to receive it, while Siddarmaiah too has promised.

"I am sure all these promises will be fulfilled eventually, but I thought this going with - begging bag (Bhiksha Jolige) - gives me an opportunity to connect with various people once again and rebuild forgotten contacts," he quipped.