DK Shivakumar-led Congress gets 149 office-bearers

Two years after DK Shivakumar took charge as president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), the party high command on Saturday appointed a fat list of 149 office-bearers keeping the 2023 Assembly polls in mind.

The KPCC now has 40 vice-presidents and 109 general secretaries, approved by AICC president Sonia Gandhi.

Shivakumar already has five working presidents under him.

Not a single sitting MLA has been made vice-president or general secretary as the party wants them to focus on their constituencies.

To avoid seniority issues, the Congress press release lists out the new office-bearers in alphabetical order. The party has also tried to strike a balance by appointing persons recommended by both Shivakumar and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah.

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With elections a year away, Congress has tried to accommodate leaders from all castes and communities. But, backward classes, scheduled castes, women and minorities have bagged 123 positions.

The break-up is as follows: backward classes (53), SC (25), women (23), minorities (22), Lingayats (19), Vokkaligas (16), Reddy-Lingayats (5), ST (4), others (4) and transgender (1).

The lone transgender office-bearer is Akkai Padmashali, a Rajyotsava-winning activist who has been appointed as a KPCC general secretary. She joined the Congress in September 2020.

AICC president Sonia Gandhi has approved Sunil Annappa Sank as the party’s candidate for the upcoming North-West Graduates’ constituency election to the Legislative Council. The biennial elections to the graduates' and teachers' constituencies are slated to be held in June this year.

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