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New KPCC President in one month, says Vayalar Ravi

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE Aug. 21. The AICC General Secretary, Vayalar Ravi, has said the next KPCC President will be selected within a month.

He told presspersons here on Wednesday that four or five names had come up in the first round of talks he held in that regard in the past three days with all sections of party leaders and workers.

Mr. Ravi, who is on his first visit to Karnataka after his appointment as AICC General Secretary in charge of the State, stressed that it was only the first round of talks to select the successor to the incumbent, Allum Veerabhadrappa. He said that there was no objection to Mr. Veerabhadrappa continuing as President. The question of selecting a new KPCC president would arise only after he decided to step down. "Mr. Veerabhadrappa is still the President of KPCC,''<149> he added.

Mr. Ravi said he had held discussions with the Chief Minister, S.M. Krishna, all ministers, office-bearers of the party, and workers. He a<149>hd also spoken to those who were dropped from the ministry in the reshuffle on June 27, he added.

Complaint against ministers

Mr. Ravi said he had detailed discussions with the office-bearers of the district units of the Congress, and urged them to improve the party work in villages. He added there were complaints that the ministers in charge of districts were not consulting the party leaders and workers at the district level.

He said there were no complaints against the functioning of Mr. Krishna from any quarters. On the other hand, the local leaders and workers were full of praise for the "dynamic leadership" of the Chief Minister.

To a question, he said that as far as he knew, there was no talk of further expansion of the Krishna Ministry.

He said that during his interaction with the party MLAs, he had stressed the need for listening to the problems of people in villages, and take up their issues with the ministers concerned.

Asked if he had held a separate meeting with the first-time legislators to discuss their aspirations, he said that it was not the policy of the Congress to pose hurdles to anyone becoming a minister. It all depended on one's ability and capacity, he added.

Asked about complaints regarding the financial difficulty faced by the Government, Mr. Ravi said it was not confined only to the Karnataka Government. The governments at the Centre and in the States faced funds crunch, he noted.

Performance review

Mr. Ravi said he had maintained performance records of the Congress MLAs in the State, and would evaluate them in due course.

The AICC Secretary, Ved Prakash, and Mr. Veerabhadrappa were present.

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