Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee to appoint 112 secretaries, coordinators in major organisational rejig

Following the Congress’s defeat in elections to four Legislative Council seats, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president B.K. Hariprasad has decided to undertake a major organisational reshuffle by appointing 112 party secretaries and an equal number of coordinators to strengthen the party at the grassroots level.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Mr. Hariprasad said the party had received 920 applications for the posts of secretaries, including 308 from Bengaluru.

He said a committee, comprising Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara and senior Congress leaders Dinesh Gundu Rao, H.K. Patil, B.L. Shankar and others, would oversee the selection process.

Applications had also been received from various regions, including 111 from the Kalaburagi division. The party would release two more lists of appointments to ensure adequate regional representation, including for Bengaluru, he said.

The process of selecting block presidents was also under way. The newly appointed office-bearers would be assigned organisational responsibilities covering two Assembly constituencies each. Mr. Hariprasad said the party was planning to increase women’s representation in its organisational structure.

Reacting to the BJP’s criticism over a book associated with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Mr. Hariprasad accused the BJP of viewing the issue through the ideological prism of the RSS and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. The book would be released in Karnataka on November 17, he said.