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The Hindu
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
Statements on leadership and guarantees continue as Surjewala will visit Karnataka for second time
Rekindling the debate over leadership, an issue that frequently crops up, the Balehonnur-based Rambhapuri Mutt seer on Sunday said that the highest post of the Chief Minister should have gone to Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar. 'Mr. Shivakumar, who has strived to get the Congress to power, will feel satisfied if he gets the highest post. This can inspire him to do more work,' Veera Someshwara Rajadeshikendra Shivacharya told reporters at Kodihalli Sidddeshwaraswamy Hills in Kanakapura taluk near here. 'Though many are urging for his replacement as the KPCC chief, till he occupies the Chief Minister's post, Central leaders cannot ask him to vacate the post. If he becomes Chief Minister, probably he will vacate the KPCC president's post,' the seer said. His comments came ahead of All-India Congress Committee general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala's visit to Bengaluru on Monday as part of his exercise of meeting Congress legislators. Sources said that Mr. Surjewala will be speaking to 45 MLAs over three days this week while he had elicited the opinions of 40 MLAs last week. 'He will speak to another set of MLAs next week. In the next phase, Mr. Surjewala will also meet MPs and Ministers to elicit their views on governance and government.' This will be the second visit after a couple of senior legislators, including MLA for Aland B.R. Patil and MLA for Kagwad Bharamagouda (Raju) Kage, spoke of alleged corruption and slow-paced development works nearly a fortnight ago. H.A. Iqbal Hussain, Ramanagara MLA, had publicly raised the leadership issue indicating that Mr. Shivakumar would become Chief Minister in the next two to three months. Meanwhile, Yelbarga MLA and Chief Minister's Economic Adviser Basavaraj Rayaraddi, who allegedly told Yarvanike villagers in Koppal district on Saturday that if they needed roads the five guarantees had to be given up, on Sunday claimed that his words had been distorted. Stating that he remained firm in his commitment towards the guarantee schemes, he said that there was nothing wrong in supporting the poor. Attacking him, Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel H.D. Kumaraswamy questioned the statement and said that such remarks would only reflect the state of affairs of the government. 'You cannot expect any development works from this government,' he said. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters in Bengaluru on Sunday that there was no question of bringing changes to the guarantee schemes. 'It is a programme for the poor of all sections that strengthens them socially and economically. We are giving some amount of money to all MLAs, including those from the BJP and the Janata Dal (Secular), for road and bridge works in their constituencies,' he said.


New Indian Express
4 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
CM Siddaramaiah to lead AICC OBC Advisory Council, first meet in Bengaluru on July 15
BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will head the All-India Congress Committee's (AICC) Other Backward Classes (OBC) Advisory Council, set up to understand the problems faced by the communities and formulate a strategy to provide solutions to them. The first meeting of the council will be held on the premises of the KPCC office in Bengaluru on July 15. Although Siddaramaiah is reluctant to enter national politics, the Congress high command has elevated him to serve at the national level, projecting the AHINDA (a Kannada acronym for Alpasankhyataru or minorities, Hindulidavaru or backward classes, and Dalitaru or Dalits) leader as the party's face of the Backward Classes. The council will provide advice on the problems and challenges of OBCs across the country and will also give suggestions on the steps to be taken for their development. AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge recently approved the formation of the council. The council comprises 24 members, including four former CMs. Senior Congress MLC BK Hariprasad and former Karnataka CM M Veerappa Moily are also on the board. Siddaramaiah had recently written to Hariprasad seeking his suggestions. As many as 90 Congress leaders from across the country have been invited for the meeting. Also, 10 former Union Ministers will be present. The meeting is likely to take 'historic decisions with regard to providing social justice to the backward classes and finding solutions to the problems faced by them,' stated a press release. The members of the council are — Ashok Gehlot, Bhupesh Baghel, V Narayanaswamy, Sachin Pilot,Gurdeep Singh Sappal, Arun Yadav, Vijay Namdevrao Wadettiwar, V Hanumantha Rao, Amit Chawda, Mahesh Kumar Goud, Ponnam Prabhakar, S Jothimani, Srikant Jena, Kamleswar Patel, Ajay Kumar Lallu, Subhashini Yadav, Adoor Prakash Dhanendra Sahu, Heena Kavre, Dr Anil Jaihind, Convener of the Advisory Board and secretary Jitender Baghel.

The Hindu
03-06-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Chief Minister to lay foundation stone for ₹873-crore health projects in Yadgir on June 14
Ajay Singh, chairman of the Kalyana Karnataka Region Development Board (KKRDB), announced that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah would lay the foundation stone for various health projects under the 'Arogya Aavishkar' initiative in Yadgir on June 14. Speaking to presspersons at Aiwan-e-Shahi guest house in Kalaburagi on Tuesday, Mr. Singh said that All-India Congress Committee president Mallikarjun Kharge, Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar, Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao, Yadgir district In-charge Minister Sharanabasappa Darshanapur, other Ministers and MLAs will also participate in the event. 'Arogya Aavishkar is an initiative being implemented by KKRDB in association with the Department of Health and Family Welfare to improve health infrastructure in Kalyana Karantaka. As part of the initiative, the foundation stone for various health projects will be laid at the Yadgir district stadium on June 14,' Dr. Singh said. The projects include the establishment of 24 new primary health centres (PHCs), 10 community health centres (CHCs), seven urban PHCs, and four urban CHCs. Additionally, the bed capacity in 25 CHCs will be increased from 30 to 50, while in six CHCs it will be expanded from 30 to 100. 'The bed capacity of the CHC in Kamalapur will be raised to 100. Moreover, nine taluk hospitals will see an increase in beds from 100 to 150. Two sub-divisional hospitals will be upgraded to district-level hospitals. The KKRDB will allocate approximately ₹400 crore for 88 specific projects, including the procurement of ambulances and the establishment of dialysis centres,' he said. Referring to the State government's budgetary allocation of ₹5,000 crore to the KKRDB, Dr. Singh urged MLAs from Kalyana Karnataka to submit micro and macro-level development action plans for their constituencies by June 30. 'If we spend the entire amount released, we can demand the remaining amount. Early submission of action plans will enable the expenditure of up to ₹4,500 crore within this financial year,' he said. Dr. Singh also announced that the Chief Minister will lay the foundation stone for 16 Praja Soudhas (taluk administrative complexes) to be built at ₹8.6 crore each at newly-created taluks. 'As many as 18 new taluks have been created in Kalyana Karnataka, and 16 of them will have Praja Soudhas. The KKRDB and the Revenue Department will contribute ₹4.3 crore each to every building. The total outlay will be ₹137.6 crore. Mr. Siddaramaiah would lay the foundation stone to these taluk administrative complexes at a public meeting in Raichur on June 19,' Dr. Singh said.


New Indian Express
02-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
RSS, Jan Sangh opposed quota since their inception: Mallikarjun Kharge
HUBBALLI: While hitting out at the BJP for its remarks that the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was against caste-based reservation, All-India Congress Committee (AICC) president Mallikarjun Kharge said that the RSS and Jan Sangh have opposed reservation and social justice since their inception. 'If we are against caste census, why did we write to the Centre (seeking a caste census) two years ago? BJP is creating confusion among people by pretending that only they care about people's welfare. But it is bogus. They (BJP) are doing it for politics,' he said. Kharge said that the Centre had not agreed to a caste census when he had written to PM Narendra Modi on April 16, 2023, asking for a caste census along with the national census. 'Now the Union Government has taken the decision to carry out a caste census. This is a good idea which we fully support,' Kharge said. 'Ambedkar brought the Hindu Code Bill, but everyone made a fuss about it then... Nehru had supported it. We work with ideology, but the BJP is basically against the idea of reservation. They (Modi government) should do the census along with the social, economic, and educational status of the communities,' Kharge said.


The Hindu
30-04-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
From The Hindu, May 1, 1925: Gandhiji on personal expenses
Ahmedabad, April 30: Mr. Gandhi answers in to-day's Young India, the correspondent who asks him if he takes anything from the All-India Congress Committee or the Gujarat Congress Committee, for his living and touring expenses. Mr. Gandhi says: 'I draw nothing from the All-India Congress Committee or the Gujarat Committee but friends fund my travelling expenses including food and clothing.'