Congress Prez Kharge to hold meeting in Delhi, Rahul Gandhi may attendijd

A meeting of senior Congress leaders regarding the selection of candidates for the Karnataka elections will be held at party president Mallikarjun Kharge's residence this evening, said party sources.

Party sources said that Rahul Gandhi is also likely to attend this meeting. Congress is yet to announce the names of candidates for 58 seats in Karnataka.

With the Karnataka Assembly polls drawing near, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday appointed a fifth working president of the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee in the form of former Lok Sabha BN Chandrappa.

While Karnataka Congress chief DK Shivakumar is the KPCC president, the party already has 4 other working presidents in the form of Ramalinga Reddy, Eshwar Khandre, Saleem Ahmed and Satish Jarkiholi.

Chandrappa was elected a Lok Sabha member from Chitradurga in 2014-19.

Elections in Karnataka are slated to be held in a single phase on May 10 and the counting of votes will be held on May 13.

The ruling BJP currently holds a majority in the Assembly with 119 seats while the Congress and the JD(S) have 75 and 28 seats respectively.

All three key political players in the state -- BJP, Congress and the JD(S) -- have been exchanging barbs as their poll campaign moves through the gears.