The Congress on Tuesday appointed senior leader M B Patil as the party's Karnataka campaign committee chairperson, a key organisational role ahead of the 2023 Assembly polls.
AICC General Secretary KC Venugopal, in a release, said that Patil’s appointment was approved by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.
With this elevation, Patil will be at the helm of affairs in drawing up a strategy and setting the tone for the party’s election campaign. That Patil will be made chairperson of the campaign committee was doing the rounds for several months.
Patil, a former minister for water resources and home, is seen as the Congress’ emerging Lingayat face in north Karnataka. He even came out in support of BJP veteran B S Yediyurappa, also a Lingayat, at the time of his replacement as chief minister. This was seen as a strategy to score brownie points with the Lingayat community that is seen as the BJP’s support base. Also, Patil was a prominent face of the movement that demanded ‘separate religious status’ for the Lingayat faith.
It is said that Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah supported Patil’s elevation.
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(Published 25 January 2022, 14:23 IST)
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