Kaujalgi made interim president of KPCC(I)

By A.Jayaram

BANGALORE, JUNE 30. The developments in Northern Karnataka over the High Court Bench issue appear to have hastened the appointment of the former Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, Mr. V.S.Kaujalgi, who hails from that region, as the interim president of the KPCC(I).

Mr. Kaujalgi succeeds the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, who had expressed a desire to give up the office of PCC(I) chief to the AICC(I) leaders last month. The other major factor that has guided his selection is that he is a Lingayat, and the Congress(I) has been attempting to win over the caste, which has moved towards the BJP in recent years.

Immediately after the announcement made by the AICC(I) in Delhi, Mr. Kaujalgi called on Mr. Krishna here this evening. He will be assuming office on the morning of July 5.

Mr. Kaujalgi's name had figured prominently in the prolonged speculation over the next chief at the Congress Bhavan. However, it is too much to expect that his appointment will assuage the feelings of those agitating for a High Court Bench, a separate railway zone with Hubli as the headquarters and over the alleged neglect of Northern Karnataka. It will hardly influence the hardliners who have hoisted the flag of a separate State. It had been expected that the new PCC(I) President will be from North Karnataka as the Chief Minister is from Old Mysore.

A man of few words, Mr. Kaujalgi is known to be a disciplinarian. He was the Speaker who spoke the least in contrast to Mr. Ramesh Kumar who had presided over the previous (tenth) Assembly.

Mr. Veeranna Shivalingappa Kaujalgi (61) is a member of the Legislative Assembly representing Arabhavi. He was the Speaker of the ninth Assembly during 1993-94. A mechanical engineer by education, Mr. Kaujalgi was an officer in the Indian Navy before he entered politics and was elected to the State Assembly in 1972. He served as a minister of State holding portfolios such as small industries, sericulture, youth affairs and health and family welfare. He was re-elected to the Assembly in 1978, 1983 and 1989.

Mr. Kaujalgi will lead the party till October when the new president is expected to be elected going by the calendar drawn up by the AICC(I) election wing. However, being the holder of office, he is better placed than the others for the formal election, going by the way elections are held in the party. In the 1997 organisational elections, one of the few to be held in the Congress(I), Mr. Dharam Singh, who was already holding the post, was elected with ease.

Mr. Kaujalgi is being viewed as the personal choice of the Chief Minister. It is learnt that Mr. Krishna had spoken earlier in the day with the AICC(I) President, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, and the AICC(I) General Secretary in charge of the State, Mr. Ghulam Nabi Azad, who is in Delhi. Mr. Krishna had in fact asked Mr. Kaujalgi to stay back in the City to await the important announcement from Delhi.

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