Rahul Gandhi approves 43-member election committee for poll-bound Karnataka

Besides chief minister Siddharamaiah, All India Congress Committee’s general secretary in charge of Karnataka, KC Venugopal, secretaries in charge of the state and all MPs will be part of the state election committee.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi approved on Sunday a 43-member state election committee for poll-bound Karnataka, which will be headed by the party’s state unit chief G Parameshwara.

Congress AICC president Rahul Gandhi with Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah during a public meeting in Jamakhandi, Karnataka, on Sunday. (Arijit Sen/HT Photo)

Besides chief minister Siddharamaiah, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of Karnataka KC Venugopal, secretaries in charge of the state and all MPs would be part of the SEC, party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi said in a statement.

Senior party leaders from the state, Mallikarjun Kharge, DK Shivakumar, Dinesh Gundurao, SR Patil, Veerappa Moily, BK Hariprasad, Oscar Fernandes and Margaret Alva are also part of the committee.

The southern state, where the Congress is in power, is slated to go to polls in the next few months as the tenure of the 224-member assembly ends on May 28.

The BJP is working hard to oust the Congress and has declared to contest the Karnataka Assembly polls under the charge of former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa.

The JDS, another major player in the state, may be the deciding factor in case none of the two major parties get simple majority. The party has already announced a tie-up with the BSP for the polls.