3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
OBC Advisory Council meeting begins on July 15, boost for CM Siddaramaiah's morale
BENGALURU: Amid speculation over leadership change, the AICC Backward Classes Advisory Council meeting which Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is hosting here on Tuesday and Wednesday, is likely to boost his image as the OBC face of the party at the national level. Interestingly, Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, apparently to identify himself with OBCs, had recently said that Vokkaligas and Lingayats are included in the OBC list at the Centre.
The meeting will begin at the KPCC headquarters on Tuesday, and resume at a private hotel on the second day. It will discuss the caste census in the light of the Centre announcing that the national census would include caste, as LoP in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been vociferous about the caste census. A discussion on Article 164(1) of the Constitution, with reference to Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, is also part of the agenda.
The meeting being held under his leadership is likely to boost Siddaramaiah's morale. A host of OBC leaders from across the country, Congress Working Committee (CWC) members and Pradesh Congress Committee presidents are expected to take part as special invitees. They include Tamradhwaj Sahu, Jagdish Thakore, Manickam Tagore, Girish Chodankar, Manikrao Thakre, Yashomati Thakur, Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, Devendra Yadav, Gaurav Gogoi, Jitu Patwari, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav and Madhu Gaud Yashki, among others.
A host of OBC leaders from across the country, including former chief ministers Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, V Narayansamy and Dr M Veerappa Moily, senior leaders BK Hariprasad, Sachin Pilot and others are expected to take part. AICC OBC cell chief Dr Anil JaiHind is the convener of the Advisory Council and Jitendra Baghel is the secretary.
The other members of the council, including Kamleshwar Patel, Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Srikant Jena, Ajay Kumar Lallu, Mahesh Kumar Goud, Amit Chavda, Arun Yadav, Ponnam Prabhakar, V Hanumantha Rao, S Jothimani, Adoor Prakash, Vijay Namdevrao Wadettiwar, Dhanendra Sahu, Subhashini Yadav and Hina Kaware, are also expected to participate.
