Bengaluru: Even as the suspense continues over the appointment of Working Presidents, the Congress High Command is said to have finalised the name of senior party leader and former Minister D.K. Shivakumar (DKS) for KPCC President’s post.
Even before the announcement of his name, Shivakumar is said to have urged the party High Command to give a free hand to him, thus opposing the party’s idea of having four Working Presidents along with him, according to sources. With the appointment of DKS almost certain, Opposition leader and former Chief Minister Siddharamaiah is learnt to have pressed the High command for appointment of four Working Presidents, one from each of the four revenue divisions of the State in order to maintain the balance of power within the party, as giving complete authority to Shivakumar may spell doom for him and his supporters. Siddharamaiah has proposed the names of Satish Jarkiholi, a ST community leader from Belagavi region, Zameer Ahmed Khan, a Muslim community leader from Bengaluru region, Eshwar Khandre, a Lingayat leader from Kalaburagi region (Hyderabad-Karnataka region) and R. Dhruvanarayan, a SC community leader from Mysuru region. Having failed to make his protégé M.B. Patil, a lingayat leader from North Karnataka as the KPCC Chief, Siddharamaiah is lobbying hard to appoint four Working Presidents, in a bid to prevent DKS from gaining complete control of the party in the state, sources said.
