BENGALURU: It’s been eight months since the KPCC got a new president in DK Shivakumar, reputed to be a dynamic leader, go-getter and troubleshooter. His appointment had infused new hope in party workers, but that hope is on the wane, for his leadership has brought no change.
Congress continues to be in limbo, which is one of the main reasons for its pile of electoral defeats.
The last time the Pradesh Congress was constituted was in 2010, when Dr G Parameshwara was KPCC president, Sonia Gandhi was Congress president, and Manmohan Singh was Prime Minister. Parameshwara had taken his list of office-bearers to meet Sonia Gandhi and get her approval.
The same team continues to this day, barring some additions made in 2012 by Parameshwara. The Congress government swept to power in 2013 in Karnataka, and Siddaramaiah was made Chief Minister.
The Congress party structure is not too complex: a general secretary in charge of each district, a secretary for each constituency, and a vice-president in charge of 2-3 districts.
There was no change during Dinesh Gundu Rao’s tenure as KPCC president. The joke in the party goes that committee members were in their fifties when they were appointed, and are now in their sixties.
As president, Shivakumar realises that he needs to infuse new blood and project young faces to create a buzz around the party.
He has expressed concern about reconstituting the KPCC with his team members, but that will need the nod of General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala and AICC interim president Sonia Gandhi.
Sources in the Congress say that leaders have asked for a revamp of the KPCC at closed-door meetings, especially with the Maski and Basavakalyan bypolls looming up.
The two seats are traditionally Congress bastions. While in Maski, MLA Prathap Gouda Patil quit the Congress to join the BJP, Basavakalyan Congress MLA B Narayan Rao passed away in September.
Under tremendous pressure to retain the seats, Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah have chalked out an ambitious plan to reach out to the Kalyan Karnataka region.
Shivakumar is touring the areas and has inducted Prathap Gouda Patil’s challenger Basanagouda Turvihal in Maski, and plans to field Rao’s family member in Basavakalyan. But they know it’s is a tough fight ahead.