Congress disbands KPCC, spares Gundu Rao, Khandre
New Delhi/Bengaluru, June 19: A day after the Congress suspended its Bengaluru MLA R. Roshan Baig, the party on Wednesday dissolved the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC), sparing its state unit President Dinesh Gundu Rao and Working President Easwar B. Khandre.
"The AICC has decided to dissolve the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC). Its president (Rao) and working president (Khandre) remain unchanged," said All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary K.C. Venugopal in a statement in New Delhi.
Venugopal is also the in-charge of the party's state unit affairs.
The KPCC has 290 office-bearers, including former Central and state ministers, members of Parliament and the state legislature and presidents of its district committees.
"The KPCC has been dissolved for restructuring in the aftermath of the party's poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha elections in which it was routed, winning only one seat," party spokesman Ravi Gowda told IANS in Bengaluru.
As part of the pre-poll alliance with its coalition ally Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) on seat-sharing and to field joint candidates, the Congress contested from 21 of the 28 parliamentary seats in the state and managed to retain Bangalore Rural.
Though the JD-S contested the remaining 7 seats, it also won only one seat to retain Hassan.
In contrast, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 25 of the 27 seats it contested, which is the highest ever for it in the state.
Independent candidate, Sumalatha Ambareesh, backed by the BJP, wrested the Mandya seat from the JD-S. Sumalatha is a multi-lingual south Indian film actress and widow of former Congress state Minister M.H. Ambareesh.
The dissolution of the KPCC comes after Baig was suspended for anti-party activities on Tuesday.
Baig, 67, is an eight-time MLA from Shivajinagar assembly segment in Bengaluru's city centre.
Upset by Baig's public criticism of the party's state leadership, KPCC served notice to him in May, seeking explanation for his attack on Venugopal, Congress Legislative Party (CLP) leader Siddaramaiah and Rao for the rout in the Lok Sabha elections.
Baig has also been in the news of late for the wrong reasons, including his alleged involvement in a multi-crore Ponzi scheme operated by jewellery trader Mohammed Mansoor Khan, who fled India on June 8.
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Kerala polls: Vijayan, Revanth Reddy trade barbs as campaigning ends
Kannur (Kerala)/Hyderabad (PTI): A war of words between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and his Telangana counterpart Revanth Reddy turned acrimonious on Tuesday, the final day of campaigning for the April 9 Assembly polls.
The two leaders sparred on the virtual world as well, exchanging letters on their respective social media handles.
The escalation came after Vijayan, responding to Reddy's earlier remarks, used Malayalam expressions considered nearly derogatory, signalling strong disapproval of the Telangana CM's comments.
Reddy, campaigning for the UDF in Kollam district, hit back swiftly, likening Vijayan to PM Narendra Modi.
He said he would take any personal remarks from the senior leader as a "blessing" considering his age, but objected to what he described as insults directed at the people of Kerala. "But you cannot abuse our Kerala people," he said, hours before campaigning drew to a close.
The controversy began after Reddy had said "nee po mone Vijaya" by invoking a famous dialogue from superstar Mohanlal's blockbuster movie "Narasimham" while referring to Vijayan on April 1 during a UDF campaign roadshow in Nemom constituency.
Earlier in the day, while reacting to Reddy's earlier remarks, Vijayan said a CM must maintain basic standards of conduct and questioned whether such dignity was being followed.
In his response to a query, Vijayan used Malayalam words that were seen as nearly derogatory for Reddy, signalling his strong disapproval of the remarks made against him.
Sharply reacting to the CM's objectionable remarks, Congress leader V D Satheesan said Vijayan appeared to have "completely lost composure" and warned that any further deterioration in his conduct would have brought "greater embarrassment" to the state.
After the critical remarks during the press meet, Vijayan wrote on his 'X' handle that political differences are natural, but expressing strong disagreement through personally insulting remarks is an attitude that he rejects. Reddy's statements lacked factual backing.
In a detailed letter attached with the 'X' post addressing the Telangana CM, Vijayan said the experience of the people of Kerala was "vastly different" from what Reddy had portrayed.
He clarified that he did not intend to engage in a debate over the performance of the Telangana government, stating that it was for the people of Telangana and political parties there to assess their government.
Referring to Reddy's comments, Vijayan said the LDF government has been consistently publishing progress reports over the past 10 years on the implementation of its election promises, underlining its commitment to continuous accountability.
He also rejected the allegation of "selective appropriation" of Kerala's achievements, including its top ranking in the NITI Aayog SDG Index, and said such criticism was misplaced.
Dismissing claims of industrial stagnation, Vijayan said Kerala has made significant strides in the startup ecosystem and ease of doing business, adding that these achievements have been widely acknowledged.
He also alleged that key infrastructure projects in Kerala, including the Kochi Metro and Vizhinjam Port, faced delays under previous Congress-led governments at the Centre, while long-pending promises such as a railway coach factory remained unfulfilled.
Vijayan further accused the BJP-led Union government of discrimination against Kerala and said the state has been actively resisting what he described as "anti-federal and undemocratic" policies through legal and political means, including approaching the Supreme Court.
He also rejected Reddy's criticism that the LDF was not vocal enough against the BJP, asserting that Kerala has been at the forefront of defending constitutional values.
Concluding his letter, Vijayan reiterated the state government's commitment to building a "Nava Keralam" and moving forward as a model for others.
On April 1, while addressing party workers in Nemom, Reddy used the popular Malayalam film dialogue "Nee po mone Vijaya". He adapted it to target Vijayan, saying "Nee po mone Vijaya".
Reddy went further, claiming that Vijayan's "time is over" and that his "expiry date has passed".
Responding to these allegations, Vijayan had said that the Telangana CM was "misinformed" and accused him of "ridiculing" Kerala and its people while trying to hide the weaknesses of his own state.
In a later response, Reddy defended his remarks and said that many of the statistics cited by Vijayan were taken from the NITI Aayog SDG Index 2023 24, arguing that the data was already outdated.
Reddy in his letter questioned the veteran Marxist leader's claim that Kerala would become the first state to completely eradicate extreme poverty by late 2025 had been achieved. Further, he chooses to conduct himself respectfully and gracefully in his criticism of the Kerala government's performance, whereas Vijayan opted to use language of poor taste.
Reddy, in his letter on X, said that while he respects NITI Aayog's corruption rankings, he wants to know why the infamous gold smuggling case, linked to individuals connected to the CMO, remains unresolved, and why 4.5 kg of gold allegedly misappropriated from the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple has not been accounted for.
