Congress appoints Dalit left leader B N Chandrappa as working president of Karnataka unit

Days ahead of the Karnataka Assembly polls, the Congress on Sunday appointed Scheduled Caste (Left sub-group) leader and former Lok Sabha member B N Chandrappa as working president of its state unit.

The appointment of Dalit leader Chandrappa comes after Karnataka Congress working president, Dalit (Right Group) leader R Dhruvanarayana passed away last month.

Native of Chikkamagaluru district, Chandrappa also served as LIDKAR chairman earlier.

The Congress appointed Chandrappa as working president gained significance as the party is trying to woo the Dalit (Left) subgroup voters in run up to assembly polls.

The BJP is trying to woo SC (Left) as the Basavaraj Bommai headed the BJP government in Karnataka recommended a 6% internal quota for the community ,which was long pending demand from the community.

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Between the SC (Left) and SC (Right) sub-groups, those belonging to the Left are considered more backward than the Right.

The Dalit (Left) always felt sidelined by Congress for a long time. This is because all the major leaders from Congress are Dalit (Right). The BJP has been trying to woo them and has given several posts to Left leaders in the party.

The Congress has so far declared 166 candidates for the polls.

The Congress is seeking to wrest power from the BJP in Karnataka, the only southern state where the saffron party is in power.

The elections to the 224-member assembly will be held on May 10 and results will be declared on May 13.