The race for the post of president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee is hotting up with the names of senior leaders K.H. Muniyappa and B.K. Hariprasad also being floated as contenders.
Incumbent KPCC president G. Parameshwara is likely to demit office following his induction as Deputy Chief Minister in the coalition government.
Though KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao is being seen as a strong contender for the post, several caste groups and their leaders have demanded that the new president should be from the dominant community in the State. Leaders from the Lingayat/Veerashaiva, Kuruba and Vokkaliga communities have been vying for the post.
Mr. Muniyappa, seven-time MP and former Union Minister, has been lobbying for this post for the past two years. He has also been calling on senior Congress leaders both in the State and in Delhi over the last few days to discuss the issue of KPCC leadership.
Mr. Muniyappa reportedly told the top brass of the party that given an opportunity to lead the party, he would collectively take into confidence all senior leaders and legislators. Some Congress leaders are backing Mr. Muniyappa, who belongs to the Scheduled Castes, to seek the support of Dalits.
Mr. Hariprasad, who has held various positions in the party, belongs to the backward Idiga community. The last Idiga leader to hold the post was former Union Minister B. Janardhana Poojary.
Some leaders of the Kuruba community have floated the name of former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who has been appointed as chairman of the co-ordination committee of the Congress-JD(S) coalition.
However, sources close to Mr. Siddaramaiah told The Hindu that the former Chief Minister has no ambition of becoming the party’s head in the State.
Meanwhile, Congress members from both Houses of Parliament held a meeting on Sunday in the presence of Mr. Parameshwara and told the party chief to consider their views too while identifying the candidate. It would not be a surprise if the high command asks Mr. Parameshwara, who has been holding the post for the past eight years, to continue till the next year’s general elections, sources said.
The party high command has evinced interest in the candidature of Mr. Dinesh Gundu Rao since he is a loyal and committed party worker. Moreover, he led the youth wing of the party and has got hands-on experience as the party’s working president. Though a few young legislators have favoured Mr. Rao’s nomination, some of the senior leaders have been opposing it on the pretext that he would become a potential candidate for the Chief Minister’s post and a threat to them if the party returns to power in the next elections.
Names of former Ministers Eshwar Khandre and S.R. Patil, both belonging to the Lingayat/Veerashaiva community, are also doing the rounds. The party high command is expected to take a decision soon after consultations with top leaders of the State, sources said.
