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Congress to connect with Covid-hit groups

Party to launch campaign to help those in distress, families that lost their members to pandemic

BENGALURU: Even as the Congress tackles the debate on the party’s chief ministerial candidate, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president D K Shivakumar on Saturday held a series of meetings to discuss measures to strengthen the organisation and also sharpen its outreach campaign to help people affected by Covid-19.

Speaking to reporters after meeting senior leaders, including former CM Siddaramaiah, KPCC working presidents, MLAs and district presidents, over video conference, Shivakumar said the party is launching a one-month campaign to reach out to families that lost their members to Covid-19 and people in distress due to various reasons.

“From July 1,  we will reach out to farmers, workers, people who lost jobs, families that lost loved ones to Covid, cab drivers and people from all sections,” he said. The government claims that 30,000 people died of Covid-19, but as per the information they have, the number is over three lakh, he claimed. “Our party workers will reach out to the families, take their applications for compensation and deliver them to the officials. We have the responsibility to ensure that they get justice,” he said.

As many as 315 Congress leaders took part in the meeting. AICC General Secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala, who was scheduled to address the meeting, could not attend. Shivakumar said Surjewala was travelling and gave instructions to them over the phone. The KPCC president said leaders who are not active at the district and block levels will be changed.  Earlier in the day, Shivakumar had held a meeting to discuss revamping the district units. He refused to answer questions related to the debate on the party’s CM candidate.

KPCC chief to visit  Ch’nagar 

KPCC president D K Shivakumar will tour Chamaraja- nagar district and meet 36 families who lost their kin in the oxygen tragedy at the Chamarajanagar district hospital. Shivakumar, along with KPCC 

working president R Dhruvanarayana, is likely to pay compensation to the family members on Sunday. Dhruvana-rayana said that the party will help the families in taking up a legal battle.