Senior Karnataka Congress leaders hold meet to build consensus


PTI | Bengaluru | Updated: 04-01-2020 21:25 IST | Created: 04-01-2020 21:25 IST
Senior Karnataka Congress leaders hold meet to build consensus
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With the Karnataka Congress in virtual vacuum following the resignation of its top leadership after the rout in recent assembly bypolls, senior party leaders met here on Saturday aimed at building a consensus for the way ahead, party sources said. About 20 senior Congress leaders, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who quit as the KPCC chief, K H Muniyappa, Veerappa Moily, D K Shivakumar, M B Patil, B K Hariprasad, R V Deshpande and Margaret Alva, met at former deputy chief minister G Parameshwara's residence here.

According to the sources, the meeting was convened after instructions from the high command to iron out differences and build consensus on taking the party ahead and regarding appointments to the key posts, before coming to Delhi for discussions on the matter. Parameshwara, who had headed the party as KPCC president for about eight-years, was tasked with bringing together factions in the party on the same page and evolving consensus, they said.

Speaking to reporters after three-hour-long meeting, Parameshwara said it was decided to communicate to the high command about the need to decide soon on the vacant KPCC President and Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader posts. Along with political developments at both centre and state, we discussed on the developments within the party including the resignation of KPCC President and CLP leader.

"It is the unanimous opinion that at the earliest a decision has to be arrived at about KPCC President and CLP leader posts, and this has to be communicated to the high command, the leader said adding he will inform the high command about the sense at the meeting. In response to a question, Parameshwara said the meeting was "a show of unity" amid speculative media reports about differences within.

Congress Legislature Party leader Siddaramaiah and state Congress chief Dinesh Gundu Rao quit their posts after the party posted a poor show, winning only two of the 15 seats in the bypolls while it had held 12 of them. Party sources said the meeting was not aimed at deciding any names for the vacant post, but an attempt to clear any confusions or differences among leaders.

Those loyal to Siddaramaiah want him to be retained as the Leader of Opposition. Parameshwara along with senior leader H K Patil are among those seen as the front-runners for the CLP leader post.

Shivakumar is being seen as amongtop contenders for the state party President's post along withMuniyappa and KPCC Working President Eshwar Khandre. Both Siddaramaiah and Rao in the past had faced resentment within the party ahead of bypolls, as several senior leaders were upset over their "unilateral style of functioning" and selection of candidates..

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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