With the Congress leadership keen on appointing a new head for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) ahead of the 2019 general elections, KPCC working president Dinesh Gundu Rao is being seen as a strong contender for the post.
The incumbent KPCC president, G. Parameshwara, is set to quit the post as he has been inducted into the ministry and also holds the Deputy Chief Minister’s post.
Mr. Rao on Saturday met Congress president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi and held discussions about the party affairs in the State.
Mr. Rao, a loyal party worker and son of the former Chief Minister Gundu Rao, has been elected to the Legislative Assembly from Gandhinagar constituency in Bengaluru for the fifth time. He also has served as a Minister in the Siddaramaiah government and had been the president of the youth wing of the KPCC.
Mr. Rao, who has made a mark in the party with his organisational skills and clean image, enjoys the confidence of all the top leaders within the party, including the old guard. However, caste factor is being seen as a constraint for Mr. Rao’s appointment as he belongs to the numerically weak Brahmin community.
The former Minister Eshwar Khandre from the Veerashaiva community too has expressed his willingness to take up the KPCC top job. Some senior Congress leaders have supported the idea of appointing a Lingayat leader as the KPCC president. Sources said Vokkaliga leader D.K. Shivakumar is almost out of contention for the post as he has been inducted into the coalition ministry and given two portfolios — Water Resources and Medical Education.