Ramalinga Reddy among two working presidents appointed by Congress in Karnataka

The Congress on Wednesday appointed two more working presidents in its Karnataka unit. Congress president Sonia Gandhi has appointed Ramalinga Reddy and Dhruv Narayan as working presidents in the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) with immediate effect, a statement released by party general secretary organisation, KC Venugopal, said. Eshwar Khandre and Saleem Ahmed are also working presidents of the state unit. Senior leader D K Shivakumar is the chief of the KPCC.  

Ramalinga Reddy, the MLA from BTM Layout constituency in Bengaluru, was detained during a protest organised in Bengaluru on Wednesday over the Centre's proposed farm laws. The protesters were marching towards Raj Bhavan in central Bengaluru. 

He was earlier the Home Minister and Transport Minister in the cabinet formed by former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. However, the Congress leader threatened to resign from his position as MLA in 2019 when dissidence broke out within the JD(S)-Congress coalition government. He eventually decided not to resign from his position and assured the JD(S)-Congress coalition of his support in a potential trust vote. His daughter Sowmya Reddy is the MLA of Jayanagara constituency in Bengaluru. 

Dhruv Narayan is a former MP from Chamarajanagar. He had earlier held the post of party whip in the Lok Sabha.  

The Congress is making moves to resurrect its party in Karnataka after back-to-back defeats in major elections in 2018 and 2019. After losing power in the state in the Assembly elections in 2018, the party was humbled in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections managing to win a solitary seat in Karnataka.  The party then decided to appoint DK Shivakumar as its president and he took charge following the relaxation of pandemic rules in July 2020. 

The party has opposed the BJP's proposed farm laws and its leaders earlier addressed a rally at Freedom Park, to mark Raitha Adhikara Diwas" (farmers' rights day).