MYSURU: Marathon booth-level meetings and interaction with booth-level leaders and workers of Varuna constituency turned into a forum to exert pressure on former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to again contest from his old seat.
Though booth-level meetings of Varuna constituency were held to discuss the Congress lead falling from 59,000 to 10,000 in the Lok Sabha elections, and to get a feel of the pulse at the grassroots, party workers grabbed the occasion to tell Siddaramaiah that he ought not to have given up the constituency. Ravi, a party worker from Suttur, said that Siddaramaiah had developed the constituency over the past 10 years, and would never lose an election here.
As the village panchayat, president Somanna and others extended an invitation to Siddaramaiah to contest from Varuna, he replied with a smile, “Kadunodi (wait and see).”Not too keen to discuss his candidature, Siddaramaiah immediately got down to business, and wanted to know why the Congress lost and the lead had narrowed down in four booths in Suttur.He also compared the lead in the assembly election to the Lok Sabha election.
Congress leader Chikkamadanayaka said there wasn’t much difference in the four booths in Suttur, and the party did well in two booths and was behind by less then 30 votes in two other booths. A few had voted for Srinivasa Prasad, also a prominent leader who won five Lok Sabha elections in the past.
Siddaramaiah advised the workers to bury their differences and take all along to strengthen the Congress. Seeking details on development work and pending works, he instructed his secretaries to follow up and ensure that all work was completed. He also had details of development work and grants on his fingertips, and wanted to know why there was a cut in the Congress vote share, and what the micro issues were. Father and son devoted time to hear out the workers of Hoskote, Adenaru, Thumanerale and Thayur panchayats.
Siddaramaiah said that this serious exercise of interacting with party workers will not only help party leaders bury their differences and shed egos, but also throw light on the exact reasons for the party debacle. He also felt that the exercise should happen in all constituencies. Varuna MLA Yathindra Siddaramaiah said these interactions had strengthened their bond, and would help them take up the real issues.
KPCC to appoint new office-bearers by July 15
Come July 15, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress may have all new committees and office bearers. After all, committees and posts were dissolved except for President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Working President Eshwar Khandre. Now, the party along with its senior leaders have been in the process of identifying young, loyal party workers to be appointed as office bearers. After multiple rounds of discussions with district-level leaders, receiving inputs from booth level workers and assessing hundreds of resumes, the Congress unit in the state could get its office bearers by July 15. From about 300 plus office bearers in various committees, the State unit intends to reduce the total number of office bearers to just about 100.