New KPCC President to assume office on Oct 6

Bangalore, Sep 29 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and former minister R V Deshpande, who had been named as the new President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) by the party president Sonia Gandhi will assume office on October six.

Speaking to newspersons Manjunath Bhandari, KPCC General secretary said Mr Deshpande would take over from Mr Mallikarjuna Kharge after the latter resigned following his election as the Opposition leader in the Karnataka Assembly.

The KPCC Chief's post remained vacant for four months, while several leaders vied among themselves to land the coveted post.

Ms Gandhi had held several rounds of talks with senior leaders before finalising the name of Mr Deshpande. The other aspirants included D K Shivakumar, Siddaramaiah, D B Chandregowda and H C Srikantaiah. The first named had been appointed as the KPCC working President, a newly carved out post.

While majority of the state party leaders have welcomed the Choice of party president Sonia Gandhi naming Deshpande as the new KPCC chief, the supporters of Siddaramaiah were upset for ignoring their leader for the post. Party activists and supporters of Siddaramaiah in Chitradurga district displayed their anger for not considering their leader for the post have ransacked DCC office.

Meanwhile Siddaramaiah's supporters, including some legislators, have planned a meeting to air their views on the issue.

Soon after the appointment Mr Deshpande met Mr Siddaramaiah and sought his cooperation to bring back the party to its 'past glory'.

"The immediate challenge before me is to fight the coming Assembly byelections which has been forced upon the people by the BJP Government," Mr Deshpande, who is also relatively new entrant to Congress, had said.

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