The All-India Congress Committee (AICC) on Friday appointed B. Pushpa Amarnath, secretary of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, as president of Karnataka Mahila Congress, replacing Laxmi Hebbalkar, MLA.
The change of guard is being described as routine. Ms. Hebbalkar, who had a running battle with the Jarkiholi brothers of Belagavi in the past couple of months, had completed more than three years in office. “Congress president Rahul Gandhi has approved the name of Dr. B. Pushpa Amarnath as president of Karnataka Mahila Congress,” said a press release issued by the AICC.
Dr. Pushpa hails from Mysuru and was a former president of the Mysuru Zilla Panchayat. She is now a member of the ZP from Dharmapura in Hunsur taluk. She has served as general secretary of the State Congress women’s wing.
Dr. Pushpa’s doctoral degree was on micro-propagated mulberry plants, and she has been encouraging farmers to take up sericulture in her taluk, which is the largest producer of tobacco in the State.
A few years ago, she received the Young Scientist Award at the fourth International Conference on Medicinal Plants and Herbal Products, held at the Montgomery County campus of Johns Hopkins University in Rockville, United States. She is also the sister-in-law of former MLA H.P. Manjunath.
