As AICC team arrives, lobbying begins for KPCC chief's post

Hectic lobbying has begun in the state Congress for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president’s post as AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal on Monday commenced the exercise of eliciting the opinions of state leaders for appointing the new state unit chief.

Aspirants for the post are vying with each other to gather support of the party leaders, KPCC office bearers, district Congress presidents and heads of various frontal organisations, with whom Venugopal has been holding one-on-one meetings at the KPCC office on Queen’s Road here.

He met several KPCC office-bearers and district Congress presidents on Monday. He is scheduled to meet party legislators, ministers and senior leaders in the next two days.

It is Venugopal’s maiden visit to the state after his appointment as AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka. The party has tasked Venugopal and four AICC secretaries with the responsibility of preparing the party for the 2018 Assembly elections. And, the first step towards it is to pick the right candidate to lead the party in the next elections.

Besides shortlisting names for the KPCC president’s post, Venugopal and AICC secretaries – Manickam Tagore, P C Vishnunadh, Madhu Yakshi Goud and Sake Sailajanath – have been directed by the high command to assess the mood of the party workers and understand ground realities during their three-day visit of the state.

Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, Water Resources Minister M B Patil, former minister S R Patil and former Union minister K H Muniyappa are among the strong contenders for the KPCC president’s post. Besides, the incumbent G Parameshwara is trying to continue in the post. The high command is likely to take a decision on the new president based on a report to be submitted by Venugopal after he returns to Delhi.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is said to be in favour of a Lingayat leader to hold the reins of party’s state unit (he is said to be okay with either M B Patil or S R Patil), while Parameshwara is trying to get the support of the Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

Shivakumar met Venugopal at Kumara Krupa guest house soon after he arrived in Bengaluru. Earlier, around 500 National Students Union of India members, who had gathered near Kempegowda International Airport to welcome Venugopal, raised slogans in favour of Shivakumar. Parameshwara, for his part, felicitated Venugopal at the KPCC office. Other contenders are said to be busy seeking support of the party leaders.

Speaking to reporters, Venugopal said he will be able to comment on the appointment of the new KPCC president after holding consultation with all the leaders. “There is no need for anybody to lobby. We (four AICC secretaries and himself) are here to meet everybody and elicit their opinion,” he added.

Complaint against CM, Parameshwara
Many KPCC office-bearers and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents are learnt to have complained against the style of functioning of Siddaramaiah and KPCC president G Parameshwara during their meeting with Venugopal.

The government has not been co-operating with Congress workers. Parameshwara is ignoring such issues as he is part of Siddaramaiah’s Cabinet.

Many DCC presidents and KPCC office-bearers have also told Venugopal that Parameshwara has not been able to function effectively as KPCC president due to his ministerial responsibilities. Some of them even complained that the chief minister is giving priority to only certain communities and neglecting others.

During his meeting with state party workers, Venugopal sought to know the present state of the party in their constituencies, status of the BJP and the JD(S), changes that need to be made to strengthen the party and the general opinion of the local people about the party and its elected representatives.