Stalemate over Youth Congress president election continues

BENGALURU: The controversy over election to the post of KPCC youth wing president refuses to die down as the battle for supremacy between KPCC president DK Shivakumar and opposition leader Siddaramaiah rages on.
On Tuesday, Shivakumar held a meeting with Raksha Ramaiah and Mohammed Nalpad in the presence of AICC youth wing president BV Srinivas and in-charge of youth wing Krishna Allavaru, and reportedly convinced both to share the post between them for 18 months each. But Siddaramaiah objected to the proposal claiming the party has already announced Raksha as president and that he should be allowed to complete his full-term.
Sources said he also spoke to AICC general secretary incharge of Karnataka Randeep Surjewala expressing his displeasure. Surjewala is now expected to arrive in Karnataka to resolve the issue.
Raksha was elected youth wing president in February this year in a controversial election after his rival Nalpad, who won the highest number of votes, was disqualified. Nalpad was declared ineligible owing to criminal cases pending against him.
Raksha and Nalpad have been at loggerheads after the election backed by Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar, respectively. Raksha is the son of former minister MR Seetharam of the Congress and Nalpad is son of Congress MLA Mohammed Haris.
Shivakumar’s camp is backing Nalpad, contending that the high command should not have allowed him to contest the election if the party’s rules prohibit persons with criminal antecedents from holding any position.
In the election that was held online amid the pandemic, Nalpad and Raksha polled 64,203 and 57,271 votes, respectively.