Mangaluru: Dakshina Kannada district Congress president K Harish Kumar said ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’, an organisational exercise initiated by the AICC, will commence in the district from Tuesday. Addressing media on Monday, he said Kozhikode North MLA K Jayanth has been appointed AICC observer, along with former minister K Jayaprakash Hegde, Veronica, Satish and Srinivas as state representatives for DK district. The observers will oversee the selection of a new district president, with the process to continue till Aug 12.Harish Kumar said earlier names were recommended by local leaders to KPCC, after which the AICC would elect the president. The exercise will cover 31 districts and is a consultative process aimed at understanding grassroots opinion, he said. The selection will be based on opinions collected during the process. Names of applicants will be disclosed during all 16 block-level meetings, where party workers can give feedback and suggest candidates. There is no deadline for submission. Those who have completed five years as district president in the current term are not eligible, though former presidents can apply. The exercise has already been implemented in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, he said.In the meantime, Harish Kumar alleged that confusion persists in the SIR of electoral rolls, and pointed out that many voters, especially in rural areas, are struggling with form filling, and also alleged inadequate training for BLOs and field staff, and pressure on BLO’s leading to errors in voter data mapping. Dismissing BJP allegations that beneficiaries are being removed from the Gruhajyoti scheme, he said the survey aims to correct duplication and assured that no genuine beneficiary will be excluded.In Dakshina Kannada, about 78% of the survey work has been completed, he said. However he questioned the BJP’s implementation of guarantee schemes in other states, citing Maharashtra, where he alleged around 92 lakh beneficiaries were removed from the Ladki Behen Yojana. Congratulating students over the NEET issue, he added that the large participation of students from Mangaluru in protests was unexpected. Responding to a question on alleged irregularities in Ayodhya Ram temple, he alleged similar irregularities in Kashi, Mathura and Vaishno Devi.He further accused the BJP of ‘chanda chori, vote chori, MLA chori, MP chori,’ questioning what the “chowkidar” was doing? He also alleged that temple funds in the state were misused during the previous BJP govt and claimed that under the current Congress govt, funds are being properly managed. He dismissed allegations of ‘adjustment politics’ between Congress and BJP in KPSC irregularities and said action has been taken against the KPSC chairman with cabinet approval.
