Karnataka goes to polls in 2018, but the race for the post of the state president has begun in the Congress, a development brought on not just by the fact that the current president’s tenure is up.

Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara’s five-year tenure as state president of the Congress is up. In fact, it has been extended by five months. Party leaders are likely to discuss the issue when Karnataka in-charge Digvijaya Singh visits the state for the Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations on April 14.

Prospective candidates for the position are Energy Minister DK Shivakumar, who was also the working president from 2008-10, Minister for IT and BT SR Patil and Water Resources Minister MB Patil.

However, the appointment of the new president is also likely to be influenced by the BJP’s new state president, BS Yeddyurappa, who is a Lingayat.

DK Shivakumar, who has the backing of party veterans like SM Krishna is also reportedly close to AICC chief Sonia Gandhi, denied being an aspirant for the post.

However, while Shivakumar is a Vokkaliga and SR Patil and MB Patil are Lingayats. Other names doing the rounds are those of national spokesperson Dinesh Gundu Rao, a Brahmin, and Krishna Byregowda, a Vokkaliga.