Congress by appointing Dinesh Gundu Rao as the state president, the party is targeting a good haul of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka. Eshwar Khandre is the new working president. The announcement was made by Congress national general secretary Ashok Gehlot. The post of Karnataka Congress president was held by Dr G Parameswara during the last eight years.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has given recognition to the youth by making the appointments in the key state. Karnataka is the only state in south India where Congress is in power, even though as part of an alliance.
Dinesh is the son of R Gundu Rao, who was one of the most powerful chief ministers of Congress in the state. A former minister, Dinesh has been winning continuously from Gandhinagar assembly constituency in Bengaluru city.
Dinesh is filling the post vacated by Parameswara, who is now the deputy chief minister. Several senior party leaders had an eye on the PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) president’s post, including the powerful minister D K Shivakumar. Others in the race were former minister H K Patil, Eshwar Khandre and M B Patil. But the high command decided that the party should be led by youths. Moreover, Dinesh was the PCC working president.
The Youth Congress president of Karnataka for a long period, Dinesh created a strong base for the party in the state. He also set up an efficient party framework for the Congress. The PCC chief’s post is a reward for such efforts. Finally, it is Dinesh’s organizational skill that earned him the state presidentship. His acceptability among leaders like former chief minister Siddaramaiah also helped. Dinesh was also not part of the major cliques in the Karnataka Congress, but maintained good relations with all senior leaders.
When H D Kumaraswamy took charge as the chief minister, Dinesh was among those who were considered for a minister’s post. However, the final list of ministers did not include his name. Others like Krishna Byre Gowda who was the Youth Congress president after Dinesh, meanwhile, found a place in the cabinet.
But with the PCC chief’s post, Dinesh has been given a major task by the high command, which believes that the Congress can win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats under his leadership.
Dinesh was elected to the Assembly for the first time from Gandhi Nagar in the heart of Bengaluru city in 2004. He has been maintaining a winning streak, representing the seat ever since, including in the recent elections.
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