158 victims of Mangaluru air crash remembered on 13th anniversary

Bengaluru, Apr 17: Senior Congress leader Siddaramaiah is likely to be named as Karnataka Chief Minister on Wednesday while D K Shivakumar will continue to head the state Congress, sources said, ahead of the final round of consultations involving Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi with principal players in the state.

On the discussion table is a proposal to appoint three Deputy Chief Ministers from Lingayat, Dalit and Muslim communities. In such a scenario M B Patil, G Parameshwara and U T Khader are likely to be considered as the front runners for the post(s).

Shivakumar will not join the Cabinet as Deputy Chief Minister, sources said.

There was no official word on the formula that clinched the deal.

A final decision will be announced after Kharge, Rahul and Congress General Secretary K C Venugopal meet Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar on Wednesday.

K Sudhakar, the Minister of Medical Education and Health in outgoing BJP government in Karnataka, has now hinted that former chief minister Siddaramaiah had played role in 2019 ‘Operation Lotus’ which brought down H D Kumaraswamy led Cong-JDS coalition government in Karnataka. 

In a series of tweets on Wednesday, May 17, Sudhakar, who himself was among the Congress MLAs that hopped to BJP, questioned Siddaramaiah whether he can deny the fact that he had no direct or indirect role in the move by Congress MLAs to quit the party when the coalition government was in office in 2019.

The “revelation” comes when Siddaramaiah is in a stiff competition with state Congress president D K Shivakumar to become the CM, after Congress won the Assembly polls by securing 135 seats.

Sudhakar accused the Congress leader of assuring the MLAs that he won’t allow the then H D Kumaraswamy-led coalition government to continue even for a single day after 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Sudhakar was earlier with Congress. He was one among the 17 Congress-JD(S) legislators who quit and defected to BJP that led to the collapse of the coalition government and paved the way for BJP to come to power.

”During the JDS-Congress coalition govt in 2018, whenever MLAs (Congress)went to the then Coordination Committee Chairman Siddaramaiah with their concerns, he used to express his helplessness and say that he has no say in the govt and his constituency/district works itself are stalled,” Sudhakar claimed.

Further, Siddaramaiah used to assure MLAs to wait till 2019 Lok Sabha polls and come what may he won’t allow the then coalition government to continue even for a single day after the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Ultimately, some MLAs including him had to inevitably quit Congress and go back to the people in bypolls, to protect the ‘karyakartas’ and supporters in their constituencies, he said, and asked whether Siddaramaiah can deny these things? 

Sudhakar, after defecting to BJP, contested the bypolls on the party ticket and won, and also went on to become Health Minister in the government. He lost the May 10 Assembly polls from Chikkaballapura seat.

New Delhi, May 27: The Academic Council of Delhi University has passed a motion to remove a chapter on globally acclaimed poet Muhammad Iqbal, also known as Allama Iqbal, from the political science syllabus, members of the statutory body confirmed.

Born in 1877 in Sialkot in undivided India, Iqbal wrote the famous song 'Saare jahan se achha'. He is also known for giving birth to the 'idea of Pakistan'.

The chapter titled 'Modern Indian Political Thought' is part of BA's sixth-semester paper, officials said, adding that the matter will now be presented before the Executive Council of the university that will take the final call.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), meanwhile, welcomed the development.

"A motion was brought regarding a change in the syllabus of political science. As per the motion, there was a chapter on Iqbal that has been removed from the syllabus," said an Academic Council member.

A unit on Iqbal titled 'Iqbal: Community', which is part of the syllabus was reviewed by news agency PTI.

There are 11 units as part of the course with the objective to study important themes through individual thinkers.

Other thinkers that are also part of the course include Rammohan Roy, Pandita Ramabai, Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, and Bhimrao Ambedkar.