As partymen lobby for KPCC post, Venugopal focusses on poll strategy in Karnataka

All-India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal being greeted by KPCC president G. Parameshwara and its working president Dinesh Gundu Rao at the Congress office on Queen’s Road, Bengaluru, on Monday.

On day one of his maiden visit to Karnataka, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary K.C. Venugopal and four AICC secretaries, all in charge of Karnataka, held a series of meetings and one-to-one sessions with Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) office-bearers and District Congress Committee (DCC) presidents.

While partymen tried to lobby for leaders of their choice for the post of KPCC president, Mr. Venugopal’s primary focus was on finding out why Congress candidates had lost in some constituencies in the previous elections. The consultations with party members were mainly to devise a strategy in the selection of candidates for the 2018 Assembly elections, sources said.

“He wanted to probe many factors that led to defeat in some constituencies, including caste combinations, choice of candidates and internal differences,” a source said. The message was that the 2018 elections have to be faced with unity in the party, the source added.

However, with incumbent KPCC chief G. Parameshwara completing more than six years in office and also holding the Home portfolio now, lobbying for the post went on throughout the day.

Energy Minister D.K. Shivakumar, who is emerging as the front-runner for the post, met Mr. Venugopal earlier in the day. Former Union Minister K.H. Muniyappa, a Dalit, Water Resources Minister M.B. Patil and former Minister S.R. Patil (both Lingayats), too, are lobbying for the post. It is learnt that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is keen on a Lingayat from north Karnataka for the post.

Mr. Venugopal, along with four other AICC secretaries, will hold consultations with senior Ministers, legislators, senior party leaders, district unit presidents, and heads of various frontal organisations. A.H. Vishwanath, the senior Congress leader from Mysuru who is speculated to be considering joining the JD(S), is likely to meet him on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters before starting his meetings, Mr. Venugopal admitted that the party was facing a hard time. But he added that Karnataka has “always come to the party’s rescue”.