Karnataka polls: Congress appoints BN Chandrappa as fifth working president in state

With the Karnataka Assembly elections approaching, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge appointed BN Chandrappa, a former Lok Sabha member, as the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee’s fifth functioning president on Sunday.

“Hon’ble Congress President has appointed Shri B.N. Chandrappa as Working President of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, with immediate effect,” read an official release from the party on Sunday. While Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar is the KPCC president, the party already has 4 other working presidents in the form of Ramalinga Reddy, Eshwar Khandre, Saleem Ahmed and Satish Jarkiholi.

In 2014-19, Chandrappa was elected to the Lok Sabha from Chitradurga.
The appointment of Chandrappa comes after the death of KPCC working president and former MP R Dhruvanarayana.

Dhruvanarayana represented the Chamarajanagar Lok Sabha constituency in Parliament. From 2009 to 2019, he was a member of the Lower House.

Earlier, on April 4, Kharge stated that the Congress will hold a lengthy discussion on the nomination of candidates for the state’s remaining 100 Assembly seats.
On March 25, the Congress released their first list of 124 candidates for the Assembly elections. Former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, the party’s state president, were among those named.

“There is a meeting of our selection committee in which we will hold discussions on the selection of candidates for the remaining 100 seats. People on the committee will give present their opinions after which a decision will be taken,” Kharge said.

Elections in Karnataka are slated to be held in a single phase on May 10 and the counting of votes will be held on May 13. Siddaramaiah will be contesting from the Varuna constituency DK Shivakumar has been fielded in Kanakapura.

Siddaramaiah had expressed his interest to contest from the Kolar constituency but the Congress High Command instructed him to drop the plan following disagreements between the party’s local leaders in the constituency. The party has fielded M Roopakala from the Kolar Gold Field constituency.

The ruling BJP now has a 119-seat majority in the Legislature, while the Congress and JD(S) have 75 and 28 seats, respectively.

The state’s three major political parties, the BJP, the Congress, and the JD(S), have been exchanging barbs as their election campaigns progress. The latter are aiming to pin the ruling BJP down on corruption.
In the state, the model code of conduct is currently in effect.