Cong conducts meet to discuss poll strategy in K’taka

In the meeting, chaired by All Indian Congress Committee president Mallikarjin Kharge, a detailed road map of the Congress campaign has been finalised, said AICC Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala.

Karnataka Congress on Monday held a preparedness meeting in New Delhi to discuss strategy for the 2023 assembly elections, officials privy to developments said.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge holds a meeting with the party leaders from Karnataka ahead of the upcoming assembly elections in the state, in New Delhi. (PTI)

In the meeting, chaired by All Indian Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjin Kharge, a detailed road map of the Congress campaign has been finalised, said AICC Karnataka in-charge Randeep Surjewala.

“Kharge has been holding deliberations on electoral preparedness with various leaders from different districts (of Karnataka), including legislators, members of parliament and senior colleagues. Even today (Monday), a meeting was held. We have now decided on an extensive roadmap for championing people’s voices against the corrupt 40% government led by Bommai,” said Surjewala.

“We have decided to hold an extensive programme over 75 days. While the assembly session will be in Karnataka, we have decided to hold a huge convention. BJP has betrayed the people of Vijayapura and other parts of the (north Karnataka) region on the issue of irrigation and drinking water from river Krishna. On December 30, this convention and rally will be held in Vijayapura,” he said.

He added that on January 2, a programme would be held to announce the party’s road map to resolve the Mahadayi water dispute with Goa.

This rally will be held in the Hubballi district.

The Congress will also hold a rally for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities in Chitradurga on January 8.

“Similarly, there will be a convention for the backward caste communities. Finally, in the first week of January, we will be a joint yatra, which covers all district HQ and all 224 within 45-50 days,” he added.

The party didn’t comment on whether Leader of the Opposition Siddaramaiah and KPCC president DK Shivakumar will participate in the bus rally organised by the party, together or separately.

The initial plan of the KPCC was to divide the constituencies in the state between the KPCC president and the former chief minister, with one covering the northern regions and the other covering the southern districts. However, two senior Congress leaders, privy to the details of the recent meetings, said that now a decision has been taken that both the leaders will travel together.

“The reason why the yatra was divided between the two leaders is due to time constraints. Covering all 224 assembly seats will take time. Since we have two tall leaders in the party, they could send the party’s message strongly if they divided the tasks between them. But we realised that this could be used by the Opposition to show that both leaders are not together,” said a leader who didn’t want to be named.

The matter was expected to be finalised in the meeting on Monday. However, Surjewala said that the details of the yatra will be shared by the KPCC in the coming days.