DK Shivakumar lays out strategy to revive Congress

BENGALURU: About a year after the Congress’ humiliating loss to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections, KPCC president-designate D K Shivakumar has laid out an aggressive strategy to reclaim the lost ground for the party. The Congress is set to work for the next five days from Tuesday holding meetings at a frenetic pace, notwithstanding the Covid challenge.

Its state leadership will hold back-to-back meetings with party functionaries from taluk and district levels and former chairpersons of boards and corporations. Even before 14 Congress MLAs had switched over to the BJP last year, there had been complaints of exodus of its cadres to the BJP in many areas.

Now, with these meetings, the Congress is working to strengthen its base from the booth level and rearm itself with “fresh cadres’’ in several regions, especially in North and Central Karnataka. Shivakumar who was appointed as KPCC president about two months ago for rejuvenating the party, is preparing to assume charge officially on May 31, with an elaborate plan to get leaders from all 6,021 gram panchayats in the state to participate in his swearing-in despite the coronavirus concerns.