Daijiworld Media Network - Bengaluru (SP)

Bengaluru, Jun 11: The Congress has reportedly initiated efforts to bring back into the party fold the leaders who had deserted it in the past for different reasons. It is said that the party has tasted initial success in the form of 15 leaders who have promised to come back to their parent party.

As soon as he became the president of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee, D K Shivakumar had formed a committee led by Allam Veerabhadrappa and entrusted to it the task of bringing back the former leaders to the party. It is said that 15 leaders have already expressed their intention to come back, while some more have tried to contact the committee. The task of bringing the leaders back will get momentum after the installation ceremony of Shivakumar.

The committee members said that they have sought reports about the leaders from the district level leaders and that before admitting the leaders, discussion on the benefits or otherwise accruing to the party because of the leaders need to be discussed in detail. Efforts to woo even district-level leaders into the party are also on.

The efforts are mainly aimed at those who were neglected because of friction between local leaders and those who got disillusioned at having been neglected for too long, people who left the party due to lure, leaders who have gone to other parties but got disillusioned there, those who left the party in the past after getting frustrated at the leadership, and those who are waiting for an opportunity to leave their current party.

A member of the said committee said that in the past, the process of party hopping went on at a brisk pace just before the election, but often the party suffered losses because of decisions taken in haste or because of pressure.

The party has B A Hasanabba as its convener and V Muniyappa, Ajay Kumar Sarnayak, Abhay Chandra, Dhruvanarayan, B N Chandrappa, V Y Ghorpade, Sampat Raj, Satish Seil, Kripa Alva and Prafulla Madhukar, who will scrutinize the people from their respective regions who want to join the Congress. Hasanabba said that the process of admitting 15 leaders has been postponed because of Shivakumar's taking over charge ceremony.

D K Shivakumar said that no one will be admitted into the party just because they are interested. He said that in some cases, admitting a leader may cause another long-term leader of the party deserting it. Therefore, he said, the committee will take all aspects into consideration before arriving at a decision.