A meeting of the Congress party’s organisational leaders of Mysuru and Kodagu district held at a private hotel in the city on Monday has resolved to urge the leadership to consider only long-time loyal party workers for contesting the coming elections from Mysuru Lok Sabha constituency.
The meeting has also cited All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) Udaipur declaration of May 2022 to oppose candidature of persons with less than five years of party work.
The meeting was attended by the presidents of Mysuru district, Mysuru city and Kodagu district Congress committees viz B.J. Vijaykumar, R. Murthy, and Dharmaja Uthappa respectively and 150 other office bearers including presidents of 16 block Congress committees and presidents of 40 frontal organisations of the party in the two districts and others resolved to consider entrusting power to new entrants to the party only after they serve the party for five years.
Though the copy of the resolution does not name anybody, the meeting has also decided to lodge a complaint against persons, “who had unofficially declared themselves as candidates and were making efforts to lure the party’s office bearers”.
The meeting has also sought to sound a note of caution to the party’s block committee presidents in the two districts against entertaining such persons in the party offices.
The meeting, however, has resolved to authorise Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar and Ministers in charge of Mysuru, Kodagu and Chamarajanagar districts viz. H.C. Mahadevappa, N.S. Boseraju, and K. Venkatesh respectively to choose a suitable candidate for the seat.
Sources in the Congress pointed out that the meeting assumes significance in the light of the efforts made by Shushrutha Gowda, a neurologist from Mysuru, who walked alongside Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, and former MUDA Chairman C. Basave Gowda, to bag the Congress party’s nomination.
It may be mentioned here that there is speculation that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah’s son Yathindra, the former Varuna MLA, who made way for his father’s contest from the constituency during the last Assembly elections, may also be considered as the Congress candidate from the seat.
In view of the poll calculations within the Congress favouring a Vokkaliga nominee, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) spokesperson M. Lakshmana and Mysuru District Congress Committee president B.J. Vijaykumar too have emerged as aspirants for the party ticket.
Meanwhile, a section of the Congress leaders pointed out that the meeting, which was not attended by any elected MLAs of the party from the region nor observers deputed by the party, may even send a wrong signal about the absence of unity in the party organization in the Lok Sabha constituency.
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