Karnataka: Congress' CM candidate to be announced next week

The Congress in Karnataka has finally put to rest the confusion surrounding former chief minister S M Krishna's role in state politics.

The high command has made it clear that there shall be no change in guard in Karnataka and senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge would continue as the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee.

While Kharge is clearly happy with this move, his supporters however question the decision of the high command not to project a chief ministerial candidate as of now.

So far no decision has been taken by the Congress to project a CM candidate. The high command says that it would do so after several rounds of discussions in the coming week.

With regard to Krishna, the party has decided to tread carefully as it does not want to upset the power balance in the state. The party has, however, not ruled out utilising the services of Krishna in the state.

Krishna, who at present is the governor of Maharashtra, had shown keen interest in returning to active politics. In fact he had gathered support in the state wing for this purpose too.

However, the high command now realises that bringing Krishna back to the seat of power in Karnataka would only upset the power balance in the Karnataka Congress.

There were several factions in the state, which had openly opposed the return of Krishna to active politics in Karnataka.

The high command has also taken into account that during the last election in Karnataka, the Congress had fared badly under the leadership of S M Krishna.

The party says it would adopt a collective strategy to battle the elections. The second rung of leadership in the state comprising D K Shivakumar and Ambarish would be given more responsibility during the campaign.