Congress to form panchayat-level committees

A new leadership tier will be created at the grassroots level to strengthen the Congress as part of the grand old party’s effort to rebuild itself in Karnataka after the Lok Sabha poll debacle.

Currently, the party has a three-tier leadership structure - the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), District Congress Committee and Block Congress Committee.

“There's a unanimous opinion among the top leaders that there's a need for a panchayat-level committee in between the booth and block committees. This process will be completed within 3 months,” AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal said after day-long meetings with party leaders to review the Lok Sabha defeat.

The KPCC, which has been dissolved, will be reconstituted within three weeks. “The new office-bearers should be selected strictly based on merit,” Venugopal said. “After this, the DCC and block committees will be constituted.”

Venugopal said a 3-day state-level leadership training camp will be conducted to discuss failures, strengths and “how to move forward.”