Bengaluru: Newly appointed Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president BK Hariprasad sparked political chatter on Thursday when he drew a distinction between party organisation and government. Addressing Congress members on his first day in office, Hariprasad said: "Those who want power and position, go with DK Shivakumar. Those who want to strengthen Congress party and the hands of Sonia Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge, come with me."
He later clarified that his remarks only reflected the need to share responsibilities between government and the party organisation, but by then the remarks had been interpreted as a challenge to the new Chief Minister. The MLC, 71, who replaced Shivakumar as state Congress chief on Wednesday, said Congress workers must strengthen the hands of Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, and Mallikarjun Kharge by taking the party's fight to the streets.
Stressing that he had not sought a ministerial post, Hariprasad said he is a Congress worker committed to the party's ideology and Constitution. He said his priority would be to fight what he called the "removal of genuine voters" through the Special Intensive Revision and safeguarding the "idea of India". Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of weakening democratic processes, he said he was confident that Karnataka Congress would win the 2028 elections.
