Congress leaders gather in Delhi to plan for upcoming election in Karnataka

Riding high off of its victory in Himachal Pradesh, the Congress called a meeting of party leaders in Karnataka to lay out a plan for the state’s upcoming elections. Senior leaders were invited to the meeting, which was presided over by Mallikarjun Kharge, KC Venugopal, and Randeep Surjewala. These leaders included Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar, Dinesh Gundurao, MB Patil, Parmeshwar, and BK Hariprasad.

Prior to departing for northern Karnataka, DK Shivkumar was due to visit Bangalore. He cancelled all appointments and is currently compiling a list of potential candidates for the party’s state election committee. The committee will evaluate applicants for the assembly elections in 2023. A list of potential candidates for the screening committee and the office bearers has also been given to Shivkumar.

Shivkumar travelled to Delhi on Monday for a crucial party gathering where 15 of the state Congress’ top officials were invited to discuss a number of topics and plan programmes and rallies for Karnataka.

In that meeting, it was decided to hold a sizable rally in Chitradurga in support of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The Mahadayi River water sharing protests will be revived through two different programmes. Siddaramaiah, the leader of the Congress Legislative Party, and DK Shivakumar, the head of the party in Karnataka, will each take two separate bus yatras to visit each of the 224 constituencies.

Sources claim that after reporters questioned Randeep Surjewala about who would be named as the chief ministerial candidate in Karnataka, an upset Siddaramaiah left the Congress headquarters. Surjewala responded by stating that the party is crucial and that it will be led collectively by all the tall leaders of the state rather than going into this election with a chief ministerial face.

After the press conference, in a meeting, Siddaramaiah brought up this subject. The former chief minister had assumed Surjewala would say ‘everyone is in the race’ rather than ‘nobody.’ He huffed as he left the office.