Ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi, a senior Congress leader, convened a meeting on Thursday with key party figures from the state, including former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state unit chief D K Shivakumar. The primary objective of the gathering was to strategize and chart a course for the party’s return to power. This meeting took place against the backdrop of a heated controversy in the state regarding the exclusion of Muslim girls in hijab from educational institutions, an issue that both the central and state Congress leaderships had approached cautiously.
Sources indicated that Rahul Gandhi emphasized the need for unity among the leaders to navigate the challenges leading up to the Assembly elections next summer. The persistent discord between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar has been an ongoing concern within the Karnataka Congress.
The meeting brought together 21 senior leaders from the state, including Mallikarjun Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha, M Veerappa Moily, former Union minister, and B K Hariprasad, the Leader of Opposition in Karnataka Legislative Council. Following the discussions, Randeep Surjewala, the AICC general secretary overseeing the state, announced that the party would resume its 100-km ‘Mekedatu Yatra’ from February 27. The yatra had been halted in January due to the surge in Covid-19 cases and the infection of some party leaders.
Surjewala also revealed that the Congress intends to launch a series of protests to highlight issues such as unemployment, price-rise, corruption, and scams in Karnataka. He emphasized the party’s concern about the alleged deep-rooted corruption within the Basavaraj Bommai government, describing it as a “40 per cent tender commission government.” Additionally, he pointed to the crypto-currency scam reaching the highest levels of power, with the government maintaining silence on the matter.
