As Kharge takes charge, Karnataka Congress asked to make 2023 candidates list by November-end

State Congress president D K Shivakumar was not a part of the meetings held around the appointment of Kharge as the new party chief.

Candidate selection is likely to be a friction point as loyalists of various leaders including Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah are expected to seek tickets, requiring the new Congress president chief to be a referee.

Also discussed at the meetings were two yatras to be carried out in northern Karnataka, according to Siddaramaiah. “There will be two yatras, one in the Mahadayi region and the second in the Upper Krishna region. There will be a third yatra for the 371J region, but that has not been finalised,” he said, referring to the backward Hyderabad-Karnataka region, which was given special status by the UPA government following Kharge’s intervention.

“The Mahadayi project is in limbo. The notification has not been implemented. For the third stage of the Upper Krishna Project, the notification has not been issued. They (BJP) are ruining the 371J region. They have not implemented it actively,” the former chief minister said.

The party has decided to form a new Congress Working Committee and three leaders from the state have reportedly found places in it–veteran H K Patil; Dalit leader and former MP K H Muniyappa, who has been miffed with the leadership over issues in the Kolar region; and former state chief Dinesh Gundu Rao.