BENGALURU: Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Congress and BJP are revamping their party units in Karnataka. While the BJP got a new state president in B Y Vijayendra, leaders are gearing up with the names of office-bearers to be announced.
The Congress is also making changes among its office-bearers, as many ministers are holding two positions, including party responsibilities. The party, which came to power a few months ago, has inducted many senior leaders in the Siddaramaiah cabinet.
“Ministers Ramalinga Reddy, Eshwar Khandre and Satish Jarkiholi are KPCC working presidents, while ministers MB Patil and Dr G Parameshwara are heading the KPCC campaign committee and KPCC manifesto committee, respectively. With Lok Sabha and other polls coming up, it might be difficult for them to handle both positions,” a senior leader said on condition of anonymity.
The leader said they had been expecting a revamp in September. The party high command as well as ministers from Karnataka, who are busy campaigning in other states, are likely to take it up in December.
Meanwhile, with Vijayendra as the new president, the party is also expected to restructure the state unit.
According to senior BJP leader and MLC N Ravikumar, the process of restructuring is expected to be done post November 15, when Vijayendra is likely to assume the post. “We will discuss and carry out a revamp of the state office-bearer. Till then, the present office-bearers will work under the new president,” he said.
Sources said there is pressure on BJP leaders to win more seats in the Lok Sabha polls. “We need to appoint office-bearers, keeping social engineering in mind. We should select a person who is capable, whose presence helps the party in elections, and is also loyal to the party. This will take some time, but party leaders will decide at the earliest as we don’t have much time for the upcoming polls,” sources said.