Bengaluru: Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad formally assumed charge as Karnataka Congress president at a mega convention here on Sunday.

At the ceremony, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who had served as Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president since 2020, formally handed over charge to Hariprasad by presenting him with the party flag.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, former chief minister Siddaramaiah, AICC general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala, ministers, legislators and party office-bearers attended the event.

The 71-year-old MLC was appointed Karnataka Congress president on June 3, following Shivakumar’s recent resignation as KPCC chief, a post he had continued to hold after becoming CM.

An OBC leader from the Billava community, Hariprasad, was re-elected to the Karnataka Legislative Council on Thursday.

He has previously served as a Member of the Rajya Sabha and as the AICC in-charge of Haryana and several other states.

The ruling party projected the event, held at Palace Grounds here, as the beginning of its campaign for a series of upcoming elections, including those for the five city corporations under the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA), zilla and taluk panchayats, leading up to the 2028 Assembly elections.