Dinesh Gundu Rao has been named the Karnataka Congress Working president, the second highest party post in the state below that of the president.
Rao is son of former state chief minister Gundu Rao and former minister in the Siddaramaiah government. The Congress made a formal announcement but Rao had already confirmed to reporters that he has been named state party president.
After much deliberation, the Congress appointed Rao as the Working President.
Media reported that initially, RV Deshpande was said to have been named party president with Rao as working president but the two reportedly do not have a good working relationship. Hence, the appointment of party president has been kept in abeyance.
There speculation that although there is speculation that DK Shivakumar might be named as party chief. The logic for this being that two of the most powerful communities in the state need to be given representation. Shivakumar is a Vokkaliga and Rao belongs to the Brahmin community.
The move comes on the back of a major cabinet reshuffle, which was announced on Sunday. Dinesh Gundu Rao was among the ministers dropped from the cabinet. He was heading the Food and Civil Supplies Department. Rao has been replaced by Priyank Kharge, Chittapur MLA and son of Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.