‘No option but party duty’: Karnataka Dy CM Shivakumar on Assam observer role
Shivakumar noted he had earlier been entrusted with responsibilities in Assam & was now being asked to take charge once again
A file image of Karnataka Dy CM DK Shivakumar. (Photo:@mr_mayank/X)
Bengaluru, Jan 8: The Congress has moved to sharpen its organisational focus ahead of the Assam Assembly elections by appointing Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar as a senior observer for the state, a role he said he would take on as a matter of party duty.
Speaking to the press in Bengaluru on Thursday, Shivakumar said he had little choice but to accept the responsibility assigned by the party leadership.
“I don’t have any option. Whatever the party asks me to do, I have to do it. Being a Congressman, I must work for the party,” he said, adding that he had just seen the All India Congress Committee (AICC) press release naming him for the assignment.
Shivakumar noted that he had earlier been entrusted with responsibilities in Assam and was now being asked to take charge once again.
Along with Shivakumar, the Congress has appointed former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Jharkhand MLA Bandhu Tirkey as senior observers for the Assam polls.
The decision was announced by AICC general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal while unveiling observer teams for five states and Union Territories, Assam, West Bengal, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, that are scheduled to go to the polls in the first half of the year.
The appointments come close on the heels of Lok Sabha MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being named chairperson of the Congress screening committee for Assam. Shivakumar, Baghel and Tirkey are considered close to Vadra, who is also the AICC general secretary.
Elections to the 126-member Assam Assembly are expected in March–April. Last month, the Congress announced a pre-poll alliance with the CPI(M), Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Jatiya Dal–Asom (JDA) and the Karbi Anglong-based All Party Hill Leaders Conference (APHLC) to jointly contest the polls.
The ruling BJP currently holds 64 seats in the Assembly, with its allies, Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), United People’s Party Liberal (UPPL) and Bodoland People’s Front (BPF), together accounting for 19 MLAs.
In the Opposition camp, the Congress has 26 members, the AIUDF 15, the CPI(M) one MLA, besides an Independent legislator.
With senior observers now in place and alliance talks underway, the Congress is expected to step up its campaign planning and coordination in Assam as the state heads toward a high-stakes electoral contest.
With inputs from agencies