Bengaluru/New Delhi: Soon after reports surfaced that the Congress high command has reached a consensus about who will be the next Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, sources now say that party’s national leadership will in all probability, appoint Vokkaliga strongman D K Shivakumar.
If the sources are to be believed, AICC interim-president Sonia Gandhi has already finalised DKShi’s name. An announcement in this regard is expected to be made tomorrow.
The development comes after former Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah and Congress’ Karnataka in-charge K C Venugopal met with Sonia Gandhi on separate occasions, to discuss who will be the next KPCC president.
Earlier today, incumbent KPCC chief Dinesh Gundu Rao informed the media that the high command has reached a consensus about his successor. “There are no confusions of any sort regarding the selection process for the next KPCC president. I’m confident that the Congress party high command will appoint a new president very soon,” he had said.
According to sources, Sonia Gandhi has decided to make Shivakumar the KPCC president. She also decided that Siddaramaiah, who had tendered his resignation as Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader, will continue in his current capacity.
It can be recalled that many Congress leaders from the state had thrown their hats in the ring for consideration as the next KPCC president, after Dinesh Gundu Rao tendered his resignation following the party’s dismal performance in the Assembly by-polls in December. Of the lot, Kanakapura MLA D K Shivakumar and former minister M B Patil were reported to be the frontrunners in the race for the coveted position. The party was virtually split into factions, each supporting their own candidate.
It is reported that Siddaramaiah, who while in Delhi, batted for Patil as the latter is a close aide. Also, Patil is a well known Lingayat leader and one of the reasons why he had the favour of many supporters in the Congress, is that his connection with the Lingayats would help revitalise the party and make in-roads into the BJP’s territory, seeing as the latter enjoys a majority of the community’s votes.
