"Decision for Karnataka District Congress Committee presidents to be taken in due course": KC Venugopal

Venugopal told reporters that the Congress leadership in the state held an initial meeting and further decisions will be taken "in due course."

"We are going to begin the DCC presidents' selection process in Karnataka. This was an initial meeting with the Karnataka leadership, and further decisions will be taken in due course," he said.

When asked about the second list of DCC presidents, Venugopal said, "Don't worry, we will announce it. It will be made public."

After DK Shivakumar took over the office of the Chief Minister in June, the Congress is under a process of leadership overhaul. Meanwhile, the party has postponed the meetings for a cabinet expansion in the state.

The current Shivakumar cabinet consists of 14 members, including Deputy Chief Minister G Parameshwara. Priyank Kharge was given the Home Affairs portfolio, while Siddaramaiah's son Yathindra Siddaramaiah became the Minister for Urban Development.

Meanwhile, responding to the nationwide protests over the NEET paper leak, Venugopal said the Congress supports the demands for Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation and compensation for families of the NEET aspirants who died by suicide.

He said, "The party is seeking the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, an inquiry into the Delhi Police's handling of the protests, withdrawal of cases registered against protesting students, and compensation for the families of students who lost their lives. These are the major demands put forward by the students, and the Central Government has to respond to them."

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, earlier today, addressed the reporters and reiterated the party's demands. He brought before the media a protester, who he said had suffered pellet gun injuries during the protest and said there is no guarantee his eye would be saved.

Meanwhile today, Union Ministers JP Nadda and Jitendra Singh met with the Cockroach Janata Party delegation.

Following the meeting, JP Nadda told reporters, "The meeting went on for almost two hours. They had three main demands and five reform suggestions for exams. We have told them that we will meet them again tomorrow afternoon and tell them about the discussion we had among the government."

CJP spokesperson Ashutosh Ranka claimed that the government was positive on their other two demands, which included compensation for suicide victims of the NEET leak and no FIRs against protesting students. (ANI)