Mysuru: R Murthy has been appointed president of the Mysuru City Congress Committee for a record third term, while former ZP member Beerihundi Basavanna has been named president of the Mysuru District Congress Committee. Both are considered loyalists of former chief minister Siddaramaiah .
His appointment comes despite reportedly more than 25 aspirants for the post, including former minister Kimmane Ratnakar and former MP Ayanur Manjunath, underscoring the competitive internal dynamics behind the selection process. A resident of Beekanahalli village in Chikkamagaluru taluk, Manjegowda belongs to the Kuruba community and has been active in the Congress for the past 40 years. In the 2018 assembly elections, he contested from Arsikere against the JD(S) and polled more than 50,000 votes, helping expand the Congress base.
In Chamarajanagar district, Congress has appointed OBC leader J Yogesh as district chief. A former ZP vice-president, Yogesh belongs to the Uppara community, considered politically significant in the region. Party leaders expect his appointment to help consolidate support among OBC voters. In Kodagu district, the party has appointed Dharmaja Uthappa from the Kodava community as district president. In Shivamogga, HC Yogesh, a Lingayat and son of former MLA HC Chandrashekarappa, has been named district president. Congress has appointed HP Manjegowda, president of the Chikkamagaluru Block Congress, as the new president of the Chikkamagaluru District Congress Committee (DCC), while prominent Arasikere leader GB Shashidhar has been named president of the Hassan DCC. He played a key role in fielding Lingayat leader HD Thammaiah against BJP’s CT Ravi in the last assembly elections, a move that worked in the Congress’ favour. Shashidhar, son of senior political leader late GS Basavaraju, is an educationist and a graduate of Malnad College of Engineering (MCE).
Murthy spearheaded construction of the Indira Gandhi Congress Bhavana near the City Railway Station during his previous tenure as Congress chief in the last decade. The building is expected to be completed within a year.