Karnataka deputy chief minister DK Shivakumar said on Tuesday that about 50 leaders and ministers will meet the party leadership in Delhi on August 2 to strategise on an action plan for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
“Ministers, MLAs, and other leaders are visiting Delhi to discuss strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The leaders have called a meeting in the interest of the party to discuss election strategy and distribution of responsibilities. In addition, this, all our guarantees will be discussed so that it reaches people of the state well,” Shivakumar said.

The meeting with the Congress top brass is considered significant amid growing discontentment within the ruling party with 30 legislators reportedly having written to chief minister Siddaramaiah and the party leadership, expressing concern over non-implementation of development works in their constituencies and functioning of certain ministers.

Last week, Siddaramaiah had held a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting at a private hotel in Bengaluru to resolve the issue. Senior Congress leader BR Patil later told media persons that he had offered to resign during the CLP meeting. Congress MLA Basavaraj Rayareddy had objected to home minister G Parameshwara’s statement that the MLAs who had written a letter to the chief minister apologised in the meeting.

AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, among others, are likely to participate in the meeting in the national capital.

According to party leaders in the know of the developments, former chief minister Jagadish Shettar, former deputy chief minister Laxman Savadi, who joined the Congress from the BJP before the assembly elections, senior leaders BK Hariprasad, Veerappa Moily, RV Deshpande are among those scheduled to attend the meeting.

“This is a meeting which was planned before. Congress has come to power in the state. The developments in the state will be discussed in the meeting. The leaders will discuss not just about one constituency but regarding the entire state. The meeting has been called in view of the Lok Sabha elections and the organisation of the party,” Shettar said.On Monday, public works minister Satish Jarkiholi had said the state leaders would be asked to name candidates for the parliamentary elections. The high command might also take a decision on replacing the state office-bearers ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

“Many of us have become ministers and we are not able to give full time to the party work. Hence, forming a new team is inevitable and this could be one of the important topics that will be discussed during the meeting,” Jarkiholi said.