Lok Sabha polls: Congress appoints Presidents for seven districts in Karnataka

BENGALURU: The Congress party appointed presidents for seven districts in Karnataka ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party has announced new names for the President post for Bellary City, Bengaluru East, Haveri, Kopal, Udupi, Raichur, and Shimoga.

"Congress President has approved the proposal of the appointment of the Presidents of the following District/City Congress Committees of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, as follows, with immediate effect," Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said in an official statement on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Congress will release its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections on April 5 at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office in New Delhi, announced the party's General Secretary KC Venugopal on Monday.

In a post on X, the Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal said that after vast deliberations with people from across the country, the Congress will be releasing its vision document, the manifesto on April 5.

"After vast deliberations with people from across the country, the Congress will be releasing its vision document, the Manifesto, on April 5 at AICC HQ. Subsequently, we will hold two Mega Rallies on 6th April - in Jaipur and Hyderabad," KC Venugopal said in a statement on X.

"In Jaipur, INC President Mallikarjun Kharge, CPP Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi will be launching the manifesto addressing the mega rally. Rahul Gandhi will also be addressing the manifesto launch mega rally in Hyderabad," the post further reads.

The post added, "Our focus has always been on giving the country a welfare oriented, pro-development vision and that will be presented to the people for this election as well."

A fierce battle is expected in Karnataka in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which will be held in two phases on April 26 and May 7.

On April 26, 14 Lok Sabha constituencies, Udupi Chikmagalur, Hassan, Dakshina Kannada, Chitradurga, Tumkur, Mandya, Mysore, Chamarajanagar, Bangalore Rural, Bangalore North, Bangalore Central, Bangalore South, Chikkballapur and Kolar, will go for polling.

The remaining Lok Sabha constituencies-Chikkodi, Belgaum, Bagalkot, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal, Bellary, Haveri, Dharwad, Uttara Kannada, Davanagere, Shimoga will vote on May 7.

Karnataka has 28 Lok Sabha constituencies, including five seats reserved for SC candidates and two for ST candidates. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, BJP won 25 seats with a vote share of 51.7 per cent, while the Congress won 1 seat with a 32.1 per cent vote share, and JD(S) and Independent won one seat each in Karnataka.