Bengaluru: Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister and senior Congress leader D. K. Shivakumar on Sunday announced that the party would constitute five-member guarantee committees in every panchayat and ward across the state to strengthen the implementation and monitoring of its flagship welfare schemes.
Speaking at the resolution meeting held at Palace Grounds after formally handing over charge of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) to newly appointed president B. K. Hariprasad, Shivakumar said the committees would be established in around 7,000 gram panchayats and 4,000 urban wards.
He said the committees would review beneficiary records and help ensure effective implementation of the Congress government’s guarantee schemes. The initiative would also serve as a platform to identify and nurture a new generation of political leadership, he added.
Expressing confidence in the party’s electoral prospects, Shivakumar said the Congress would win the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections as well as the 2029 Lok Sabha polls. He also reiterated the party’s goal of seeing Rahul Gandhi become Prime Minister.
The senior leader said that irrespective of any future position he may hold, including that of Chief Minister, he would continue to serve the party as a dedicated worker.
Shivakumar also announced that the state government would take steps to conduct student union elections from this year, stating that elections at the college level would help cultivate young leaders and strengthen democratic participation among students.
Reflecting on his six-year tenure as KPCC president, he credited party workers for their role in major political and social movements, including relief efforts during the Covid-19 pandemic, farmers’ protests, the Mekedatu Padayatra, the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the implementation of the Congress government’s welfare guarantees.
He asserted that the guarantee schemes would continue without interruption and urged party workers to create awareness during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls to ensure that eligible voters are not deprived of their voting rights.
During the programme, Shivakumar also cautioned party workers against raising slogans centred on individual leaders. Emphasising organisational discipline, he told supporters that the Congress should remain larger than any individual and urged them to “worship the party, not individuals.”
