AFTER FACING A HEAVY defeat in the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress is looking for a revamp in Karnataka. The dissolution of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on June 19 seems to be the first step towards it. Only state president Dinesh Gundu Rao and working president Eshwar Khandre have been retained.
The party is yet to address the bumpy ride of the Janata Dal (Secular)-Congress coalition, and the growing resentment of party cadres and leaders (who got sidelined) over the alliance. Former ministers R. Ramalinga Reddy and R. Roshan Baig (now suspended from the party) openly criticised Gundu Rao, coordination committee chairman Siddaramaiah and All India Congress Committee general secretary K.C. Venugopal after the Lok Sabha debacle. While the central leadership is in favour of continuing the shaky coalition with the JD(S), state Congress leaders have set out to strengthen their position in their respective regions, hinting at the possibility of an early election.
The dissolved KPCC had as many as 266 office-bearers, including 21 vice presidents, one treasurer, 64 general secretaries and 170 secretaries. The jumbo size of the committee and the ineffective leadership were cited as the main reasons for the dissolution. The committee will now be cut to half its size. Sources say that grass-roots level clout, social engineering and regional considerations will be the buzzwords while forming the new committee.
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The dissolution has evoked mixed response from party leaders, with many questioning the timing of the move. “The dissolution of the entire team, especially at a time when the party is in dire straits, sends a wrong signal to the cadres,” warns a senior leader.
The trigger for the total revamp is said to be the dismal performance in the Lok Sabha polls. But party insiders contend that an overhaul was long due. “A committee was formed to study the facts responsible for the party’s poor show in the Lok Sabha polls, and the report is awaited,” says B.L. Shankar, former KPCC vice president. “So it is wrong to say dissolution was based on the poll performance. When the party underwent reorganisation at the national level, too, Karnataka was exempted due to state assembly elections.”
Churning the party structure at the state level is not new for the Congress. Rahul Gandhi, as Congress vice president, had quietly implemented a similar exercise in Kerala and Uttar Pradesh in 2013. As Karnataka goes to panchayat, municipal and corporation polls next year, and as the stability of the coalition government is under a cloud, Congress leaders are hoping that a “trimmed” and “effective” team will be put in place at the earliest.