Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Dec 3: It is reliably learnt that the Congress, in the run-up to the assembly election, has decided to postpone for the present holding of 'Janasheervada Yatra' and instead, focus on caste and issue-based calculations in every constituency so that it can depute leaders having sway on voters from particular castes to influence them. It is said that caste calculations the party had relied upon during the bypoll had helped it to bag both Gundlupet and Nanjangud assembly seats.

The party high command is said to have taken steps to allot targets to district in-charge ministers as it is insistent that all the ministers should play an active role in organizational matters of the party. Each of these ministers have been asked to furnish how many assembly seats they can win for the party.

KPCC president Dr G Parameshwar with CM Siddaramaiah 

The party has taken complaints about the ministers not evincing interest in party's organizational matters and the distance they have been keeping from party activists seriously. The high command has sought details about how many seats individual ministers can win for the party in their home districts and what efforts they are putting to make this happen.

State Congress in-charge, K C Venupal, has sought details from individual district in-charge ministers directly on these lines. The party it appears, wants to assess the capabilities of ministers and the current situation in the districts under them so that it can make advance assessment about its chances and adjust strategies accordingly. It is gathered that Venugopal's initiative has dampened the spirits of some ministers who are afraid they might fare poorly in this assessment.

Congress high command has already collected information that it would be difficult to repeat its 2014 performance this time. It has identified 40 to 45 leaders having some eminence and perceived to be having influence on the castes to which they belong. These leaders, the party feels, can therefore visit the districts where people from their particular castes are in large numbers, and concentrate on turning them towards the Congress. Venugopal, it is said, feels that he can compare the winnability figures provided by the ministers with the figures already collected by the party through its internal assessment, evaluate contributions of ministers and undertake remedial measures to maximize chances of victory for party candidates.