Karnataka Congress factions may hit organisational change process

Bengaluru: Factional fights within Congress, including embers of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s leadership tussle with his deputy D K Shivakumar, are likely to spill into the appointment of new district party presidents.

Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress president, has kickstarted the process of appointing new chiefs for 25 District Congress Committees (DCC). He has deployed senior leaders as observers to finalise two or three presidential candidates for each of the 25 DCCs. 

Observers have been asked to hold discussions with MLAs, MPs, defeated candidates, former lawmakers and a host of other local leaders and finalise names of potential DCC presidents. Shivakumar, in a letter to all observers, stated that the names should be given to him in a sealed envelope. 

According to party sources, the process of finalising DCC presidential candidates may run into rough weather in those districts where camp wars are not only evident, but intense. 

A senior Congress leader cited Belagavi as an example. Here, the party has three organisational units - Belagavi City, Belagavi Rural and Chikkodi. Ballari MP E Tukaram, former minister Ajaykumar Sarnaik and MLC Basanagouda Badarli are the observers for this district. 

“There’s a turf war between Public Works Minister Satish Jarkiholi and Women & Child Development Minister Laxmi Hebbalkar. They want their picks as DCC presidents,” the leader said. “District in-charge ministers and MLAs will also push for their candidates,” the leader added. 

The party may also face lobbying in Kolar where Food & Civil Supplies Minister KH Muniyappa and former Speaker K H Ramesh Kumar are rivals. 

Even the BJP witnessed factional fights during the appointment of presidents to 39 of its organisational districts. 

More powers

The Congress is changing the presidents of 25 DCCs who have had more than one term. Apparently, they have been DCC chiefs for 2-10 years. 

Government Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed told DH that the DCC presidents are being changed as per an AICC direction. 

“At the AICC session in Gujarat, held in April, it was discussed that DCC presidents should be given more importance. They should have a greater say in selecting candidates who contest elections. So, DCC presidents will be more powerful,” Ahmed, who has been appointed as the observer to finalise three names for the Chikkamagaluru 1DCC, said. 

Ahmed said the process of appointing DCC presidents had started across India. “In Karnataka, the process should be over in the next one month, hopefully,” he said.