Cong office-bearers to be decided after Sept 12: Rao

Appointment of office bearers to the Karnataka Congress committee besides leader of opposition in the assembly is likely to be decided after discussions with the party high command in Delhi on September 12, State unit chief Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Saturday.

The AICC had dissolved the KPCC after the party's rout in Lok Sabha polls, in which the Congress won just one seat. However, state unit president Rao and working president Eshwar Khandre were not removed. "On September 12 we are going to Delhi, a meeting has been called and things may get finalised," Rao said in response to a question about delay in the appointment of office-bearers.

Though there were plans that the reconstituted KPCC would be "thin", with about 70-75 office bearers, the collapse of the Congress-JDS coalition government has lead to change in the plan as opportunity has to be provided to several leaders who were ministers in the previous government. In response to a question about leader of opposition, Rao said, "all those things will be discussed and decided."

With B S Yediyurappa taking over as the Chief Minister in July, the post of leader of the opposition is vacant.

With Congress now the principal opposition party in the assembly, the LOP position goes to it. Though congress legislature party leader Siddaramaiah is seen as the primary contender for the post, there are several other senior leaders like D K Shivakumar, H K Patil and Krishna Byre Gowda who are reportedly eyeing the post. Shivakumar's recent visit to Delhi to meet Congress leadership, amid reports that the state congress chief will be changed, had lead to speculation about him lobbying for the post.

Shivakumar on his part had denied such reports.