Rahul's New Year message to CM: Congress must win Karnataka

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has set a New Year resolution for Chief Minister Siddaramaiah: The party must win the Assembly elections.

Rahul rang up Siddaramaiah post midnight and, the two are said to have spoken for nearly 10 minutes. After the customary New Year greetings, Rahul is said to have told Siddaramaiah that 2018 will be a challenging year. "We must win Karnataka," he apparently told Siddaramaiah, who is leading the party's poll campaign.

Rahul is also said to have collected details on BJP national president Amit Shah's visit to the state and appreciated Siddaramaiah's 'Sadhaneya Sambhrama' state tour. Rahul is expected to visit Karnataka towards the end of this month.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara said some BJP leaders were slated to join the party ahead of the Assembly polls. "Some JD(S) leaders have already joined the party. There are some BJP leaders who will come, but we can't just bring them on board without any discussion and I can't reveal everything now," he said.

Parameshwara clarified that there was no Operation Kamala-like attempt to poach members from other parties.

With BJP chief Amit Shah taking stock of the saffron party's poll campaign, Parameshwara said the Congress will be ready with a counter. "Shah came to sort out issues within his party. We'll devise a tactic to counter his," he said.