Ending weeks of speculation surrounding the appointment of new president for the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), the All India Congress Committee (AICC) on Wednesday named five-time MLA and former Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao for the post.
Mr. Rao, 48, is said to be the choice of AICC president Rahul Gandhi. His appointment is seen as a resolve to galvanise the Congress to face the all-important Lok Sabha elections, which are a few months away.
MLA from Bhalki and former Minister Eshwar B. Khandre, who is a Veerashaiva–Lingayat community leader, has been appointed working president, the post earlier held by Mr. Rao.
Three-time MLA Mr. Khandre, 56, holds an engineering degree. He is the son of the former Minister and former president of the Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha Bheemanna Khandre. His appointment is seen as an attempt to maintain regional balance as well as win the confidence of the dominant community.
With this, many feel that the party has preferred leaders from forward castes to head the party after eight years. Mr. Rao, who has been kept out of the Janata Dal (Secular)–Congress coalition government, was one of the few senior legislators who did not express dissent publicly, and worked towards pacifying dissenting legislators.