The Congress has begun preparations for the 2028 Karnataka Assembly elections with an in-principle decision to repeat the party assembly candidates who lost in the previous state elections after surveys showed their prospects as positive. 

On Monday, KPCC President and Dy CM, DK Shivakumar, held a meeting with all the candidates who lost in assembly elections last time and asked them to gear up for the 2028 elections. According to Shivakumar, 60 of the defeated candidates could win the polls next time as per an internal survey.

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“As many as 60 candidates who lost the previous assembly election are said to win in the coming election according to an internal survey. Against this backdrop, we have asked our losing candidates to prepare for 2028,” Shivakumar told media persons on Monday evening after the meeting was over. 

“We invited 86 of our candidates who lost the previous election and listened to their concerns and deliberated on the preparations for the local body elections and the 2028 elections. We have given clear instructions to the defeated candidates to be proactive. We are also preparing an action plan in consultation with the AICC on building the party in the remaining 20 constituencies,” Shivakumar said. 

After a few hours, just before his departure to Delhi for meeting with central water resources ministry on Tuesday morning, DK Shivakumar told media persons about the rebuilding and rejuvenation of the party under which the Congress will give leadership roles to those who work hard on the ground and not those who lobby with leaders in Bengaluru. A list of such workers and leaders is being finalised and once done the state unit would seek ratification from the national leadership, he said.

On the election preparations, he said another round of meeting with defeated candidates of assembly and Lok Sabha elections will be held to work out a focused plan to win their seats. The party has also been instructed to support and empower them. “The CM and I will fix a meeting with the losing candidates during the next session,” Shivakumar said. 

“The CM and I along with the district in charge ministers will hold a meeting of the party workers from March 23 to April 1. We will allow the district in-charge ministers to hold these meetings if time permits before that. I have decided to meet party workers in 2-3 assembly constituencies every day to cover all the 28 constituencies,” he said.

The focus is on building the party and organisation, and firstly all the vacant positions will be filled soon, Shivakumar said and added, there is a plan to build party offices in all constituencies. 

He asked party leaders to purchase land and donate it to the party, like he himself had done in Ramanagara. Shivakumar said, “I have purchased land and donated it to the party in Ramanagara. Our objective is to have a party office in each of the assembly constituencies.” 

To media queries on his leadership of the party and if he would be leading the party in 2028 polls, Shivakumar said “It is my duty to take the party forward irrespective of my position at that time.” Positions don’t take the party forward but the leadership like he has shown in the past, he said. 

He was categorical that Congress would reward only those workers who work on the ground and not those who lobby in Bengaluru. “We need people who work at the taluk level and we don’t need people who revolve around senior leaders in Bengaluru. If we give some positions of power, it needs to yield results. We will give priority to those leaders who work on the ground and get us results.”

The process of identifying such workers is still on and once it is finalised in Karnataka, the party unit here will seek ratification of the national leadership on that. There is also a direction from AICC to seek out only those who work on the ground, and the list of people to figure in the party rejig is likely to be finalised very soon, Shivakumar said.