DKS sounds 2028 poll bugle, asks Congress workers to start campaign from Belagavi
BENGALURU, BELAGAVI: Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president DK Shivakumar on Saturday said that the December 26 Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting and December 27 rally will write a foreword for the 2028 Assembly polls for the Grand Old Party to return to power again.
He was speaking to the media after holding a preliminary meeting to mark the centenary of Mahatma Gandhi presiding over the Congress session held in Belagavi in 1924. “The Congressmen have an opportunity to celebrate this proud moment, and all of you must make use of it,” he told the party functionaries.
Drawing a parallel, Shivakumar claimed that after he took over as the state party chief, he started the Praja Dhwani Yatre from the same place that Mahatma Gandhi assumed charge as the Congress president.
“We launched Gruha Jyothi after cleaning the roads from the waters of the Gandhi well. We are celebrating this august moment under the leadership of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. We need to write the foreword for a new chapter in 2028 in this convention,” Shivakumar said.
He called upon party workers to construct at least 100 Congress offices in the state.
He pointed out that the programme will be held under the auspices of the party and the government as a committee comprising 60 people, including Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister HK Patil, former union minister M Veerappa Moily, former MLC B L Shankar among others to finalise the modalities.
“We will hold the Congress Working Committee meeting on December 26 at the same place where Gandhi took the oath as the AICC President in Belagavi. Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, all members of CWC, presidents of all PCCs, CLP leaders, and 150 MPs and AICC General Secretaries will participate,” Shivakumar said.
A statue of Mahatma Gandhi will be unveiled to mark the occasion. CM Siddaramaiah will host a dinner for the dignitaries in the evening.
Shivakumar clarified that no transport or accommodation facility has been made for the party workers. The winners and the defeated candidates in the panchayat elections, appointees to boards and corporations, committee members, and corporation members must come on their own, he suggested.
“We are illuminating Belagavi city at a cost of Rs 8 crore on the same lines as Mysuru during Dasara. It will be a historic moment. We are organising awareness programmes for party workers in the Kittur Karnataka region regarding the convention.
The people in charge must bring a minimum of 5,000 people from each assembly constituency in this region and make this event a grand success,” the state Congress chief said.