All quiet on Congress campaign committee front

BENGALURU: The Congress high command had set up a plethora of committees under heads such as election, coordination, publicity, election management and media coordination, but the most important campaign panel set up in December last year is staying off the radar.


Senior Congress MLA and former minister HK Patil was appointed chairman of the party’s campaign committee. The role of the committee was to draw up strategy for the party during elections. But the panel, which has always been a vibrant and dynamic one, has managed very little traction.

The panel was previously headed by heavyweights DK Shivakumar, the water resources minister, and former Union ministers SM Krishna and B

Janardhana Poojary

. Realising that the panel hasn’t quite clicked, poll strategists in the party have proposed setting up four panels headed by Patil, Shivakumar, former home minister Ramalinga Reddy and MLC

CM Ibrahim

, sources said. These panels, which are yet to be approved by KPCC president Dinesh Gundurao, will be put in charge of constituencies and they will have to conduct two road shows and a public meeting every day.

Sources said one reason Patil’s committee has lost its sheen is because of the party’s preoccupation with Janasampark Yatras, workshops for workers and AICC president Rahul Gandhi’s visits to the state. “Each person has his own style of functioning and the panel under Shivakumar was visible because he is Shivakumar,” they added. Patil was not available for comment.


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