Chief Minister Siddaramaiah greets the crowd as his deputy D K Shivakumar looks on at the Congress' foundation day event in Bengaluru on Sunday.
Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar announced on Sunday that he had formed a nine-member committee to advise on conducting student union elections.
Speaking at the Congress foundation day programme at Bharat Jodo bhavan, Shivakumar, also the deputy chief minister, said, “We have to develop new leaders at college (level). So, I have formed a 9-member committee headed by (Medical Education Minister) Sharanprakash Patil”.
Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had urged the Karnataka government to restart student elections. Shivakumar and veteran Congress leaders B K Hariprasad, Ramalinga Reddy and H M Revanna are themselves products of the student movement.
In a letter dated Saturday, Shivakumar announced the formation of the committee headed by Patil.
The other members are Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar, MLCs Saleem Ahmed, Basanagouda Badarli, Puttanna, MLAs Rizwan Arshad and B Shivanna, state youth Congress president H S Manjunath and state NSUI president Keerthi Ganesh. The committee has been given 15 days to submit its report.
Ahmed, also the government chief whip in the Council, told DH that the student union elections, banned in 1990 when Congress was in power, would resume in the coming academic year.
Applications for GBA polls
On the upcoming Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, Shivakumar said aspiring candidates could start filling forms from Sunday itself, up to January 15.
The deputy chief minister said the zilla panchayat and taluk panchayat elections would be held soon.
“We cannot stop ZP and TP elections. We are conducting. In two-three months, we must prepare for it. Already the chief minister has told Priyank Kharge (RDPR minister) to resolve all reservation and legal concerns and conduct the elections in two months”.