The Hindu : Byre Gowda to head state AIJD unit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Mar 20, 2003

Southern States

Southern States - Karnataka

Byre Gowda to head state AIJD unit

By Our Special Correspondent

Bangalore March 19. C. Byre Gowda has been appointed President of the State unit of the All India Janata Dal (AIJD). Till the informal merger of the Janata Dal (United) with the AIJD about four months ago, Mr. Byre Gowda was the President of the State unit of the JD(U).

The appointment of Mr. Gowda as the AIJD President will put to rest the wrangling for the post within the fledgling party. Among the serious contenders were the Floor Leader of the party in the Legislative Assembly, P.G.R. Sindhia, and the former Transport Minister, B.N. Bachche Gowda.

While Mr. Sindhia continues to hold the same post, Mr. Bachche Gowda has been made the party's senior Vice-President.

The various appointments in the party were pushed through on Wednesday in view of Ramakrishna Hegde leaving for the U.K. for treatment.

Soon after receiving the news of his appointment, Mr. Byre Gowda told The Hindu that he was thankful to Mr. Hegde, and the party president, S.R. Bommai, for the faith reposed in him. "A great responsibility has been thrust on me and I am confident of doing well and leading the party to victory in the election. The aim is to serve the people."

The former Minister, B. Somashekar, who at one stage was also a contender for the post, has been retained as chairman of the party's Parliamentary Board. Another former Minister, M.P. Prakash, who strived to bring about an understanding among the senior leaders for the various important positions in the party, has been appointed the Chairman of the Political Affairs Committee.

The JD (Neutral) leader, M.C. Nanaiah, who along with three other former Ministers and the former Speaker, Ramesh Kumar, had stayed clear of the JD(U) till it severed its connection with the BJP, has been appointed the Vice-President of the party's national unit, while the former Irrigation Minister, K.N. Nage Gowda, has been appointed General Secretary of the national unit.

Mr. Bommai has also appointed a committee of six senior leaders to identify and suggest a list of leaders for various party positions. The committee to be headed by Mr. Byre Gowda will comprise Mr. Sindhia, Mr. Prakash, Mr. Somashekar, Mr. Ramesh Kumar and Basavaraj Horatti.

The other office-bearers of the State unit are K.B. Shanappa, B.A. Mohideen, Umesh Katti, Nagappa Saloni (Senior Vice-Presidents), Basavaraj Rayaraddi (Secretary-General), V.S. Krishna Iyer (Treasurer), Mr. Ramesh Kumar (Spokesperson).

A.B. Patil is the Chairman of the Publicity Committee, John B. Coutinho is General Secretary in-charge of the party office, and H.N. Nanje Gowda Chairman, Policy and Disciplinary Committee.

Most of the 60 other leaders in the party have been appointed vice-presidents, general secretaries and secretaries. They are Varade Gowda, Vaijnath Patil, G. Basavanappa, H. Honnappa, Ashwathnarayana Reddy, Devaraya Naik, Govinda Karjol, Muthina Pandimath, Jayanthi, C.Gurunath, Ajay Kumar Sarnaik, B.B. Ningaiah, Karimsha Thundar, G. Naganna, Salingaiah, Rajashekar Gujjali and Kalaspur Shettar (vice-presidents).

Hampana Gowda, A.R. Krishnamurthy, Jayaprakash Hegde, M.Chandrappa, H.S.Mahadev Prasad, Pramod Hegde, E.Nanje Gowda, Mahima Patel, T.Prabhakar, Prafulla Madhukar, M.Srinivas, Lokesh Gowda, Javali, Govardan, Mallikarjun, Siddannagoud, P.S.Prakash, M.D.Chandrashekar, T.P.Ramesh, Aswath Tehasildhar and Venkat Rao Nadagouda (general secretaries). The list of secretaries includes Amare Gowda Patil, Mahantesh Koujalgi, S.M.Nagaraj, Riyaz Ahmed, Bhanu, Krishna Naik, Azad Patel, Ayyappa, Nazir Ullal, Manohar Kattimani, Murugarajendra Wodeyar, Ajjappa Arakeri, K.S.Nagaraj, Jayaprakash, C.Jayanna, Shivanna Mungihal, Melgiri and Vilas Rao Almelkar.

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