Amid intense lobbying for the party top slot, Congress president Rahul Gandhi appointed Dinesh Gundu Rao as the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Wednesday.
Gundu Rao was president of the Karnataka Youth Congress and is currently a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Gandhinagar constituency in Bengaluru. Dinesh Gundu Rao has served as minister of state for food, civil supplies and consumer affairs in Karnataka. He is an engineering graduate.
The longest-serving president of KPCC G Parameshwara had stepped down to serve as deputy chief minister of the state when the JD(S)-Congress combine assumed power in the state recently. Congress general secretary Ashok Gehlot expressed the party's appreciation for his services in a press release.
Dinesh Gundu Rao is the son of former Karnataka CM Gundu Rao. Reports said the Congress high command did not succumb to presure tactics by a section leaders as the party needed an 'acceptable' and organisationally capable had to lead the party to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Also, the new president's proximity to Siddharamiah worked in his favour. Sources said the party did a fine balancing by creating two power centres at one go.
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