"Rule can be relaxed...": Randeep Surjewala on Congress' 'One Person, One Post' rule

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], January 13 (ANI): Amid speculations of leadership change in the Karnataka Congress, the third party meeting was held on Monday under the chairmanship of state in-charge and party MP Randeep Singh Surjewala.
Karnataka Deputy CM and state Congress President DK Shivakumar, along with senior ministers HK Patil, KJ George, Priyank Kharge, RV Deshpande, Satish Jarkiholi, HC Mahadevappa, and N. Chaluvaraya Swamy were also present in the meeting.
Prior to the commencement of the meeting, Surjewala, while addressing a press conference in Bengaluru said they will discuss about the 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Samvidhan' rally which will be held on the January 21 at Belgaum. He added that the party intends to create 100 'Gandhi Bharat' offices in the state.
"The agenda of our two meetings held so far, and the third meeting of the CLP that will be held very shortly, is very simple. First, a 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bheem, Jai Samvidhan' rally will be held on the 21st of this month at Belgaum, where it was earlier postponed. The objectives of the rally have already been explained to you in detail...Second, we are going to have 100 'Gandhi Bharat' offices across Karnataka. The foundation stone for the same will be laid down by Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge sometime in February in one go from Bengaluru. We have requested they allocate a date," Surjewala said.
"One purpose of calling all legislators, ministers and other colleagues of the party was also this: to create a final edifice and structure; about 74 places have already been frozen...the rest are now being finalised by our working presidents and also by the party. Third, this is the year of the organisation as decided by CWC in Belgaum. That's why we have decided that as far as Raipur's decision and in accordance with the Jodhpur declaration of the party, we are now going to constitute the panchayat-level Congress committee, the ward-level Congress committee and the intermediary mandal committee and review all our blocks," he added.
Being asked about the 'one person, one post' decision, Surjewala said the rule can be relaxed in some situations, but the rule exists in 90 per cent of the cases.
"It was decided... There was a qualifier there that in the exigencies of a situation, the rule can be relaxed. So, it can't be followed in breach but largely--in 90 per cent of the cases--it will be one person, one post," the Congress MP said.
Notably, DK Shivakumar holds the position of both the Deputy CM of the state and the President of Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee. (ANI)