Karnataka CM race: SWOC analysis of DKS and Siddaramaiah

News Network
May 15, 2023

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After the Congress's emphatic 135-seat win in the May 10 Karnataka Assembly polls, the focus has now shifted to the all-important question, "who will be the Chief Minister."

And the race for the top post has heated up between old warhorses Siddaramaiah and DK Shivakumar, with both leaders making no secret of their ambition to lead the southern state. The Congress Legislature Party (CLP) has unanimously authorised All India Congress Committee (AICC) President M Mallikarjun Kharge to pick its leader, who will be the next chief minister of the state.

Here is a SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Challenges) analysis of the two aspiring CMs.

Siddaramaiah:

Strengths:
•    Mass appeal across the state
•    Popular among a large section of Congress legislators
•    Experience of having run a full-term government as Chief Minister (2013-18).
•    Able administrator with experience of having presented 13 budgets.
•    Clout among the AHINDA (Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and Dalits).
•    Strong ability to take on BJP and JD(S), most importantly PM Modi and his government on issues.
•    Considered close to Rahul Gandhi and apparently has his backing.

Weaknesses: 
•    Not so much organisationally connected with the party.
•    Failure in bringing the Congress government back to power in 2018 under his leadership.
•    Still considered an outsider by a section of Congress old guard. He was formerly with the JD(S).
•    Age factor- Sidddaramiah is 75.

Opportunities: 
*Acceptability, appeal and experience to take along every one to run a government with a decisive mandate, and strengthen Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
* IT, ED and CBI cases against opponent Shivakumar, who is also eyeing the CM post.
*Last election and last chance to become CM.
 
Challenges:
•    Uniting of senior Congress old guards like Mallikarjun Kharge, G Parameshwara, who have missed becoming CM because of Siddaramaiah, also B K Hariprasad, K H Muniyappa among others against him.
•    Call for a Dalit CM. *Shivakumar's organisational strength, party's 'troubleshooter' tag, loyalty image across the country, and closeness to Gandhi family, especially Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

D K Shivakumar: 

Strengths:
•    Strong organisational capabilities and having led the party to victory in elections.
•    Known for party loyalty.
•    Considered Congress' ace troubleshooter during difficult times.
•    Resourceful leader.
•    Has the backing of the dominant Vokkaliga community, its influential seers and leaders.
•    Closeness to Gandhi family. * Age factor on his side.
•    Long political experience; has handled various portfolios.

Weaknesses:
•     Cases against him before IT, ED and CBI.
•    Jail term in Tihar
•    Lesser mass appeal and experience compared to Siddaramaiah. 
•    Clout by and large limited to the Old Mysuru region.
•    Not having much backing from other communities.

Opportunities: 
•    Congress' domination of the Old Mysuru region would go to Shivakumar, a Vokkaliga.
•    KPCC President, as the natural choice to be the CM, like in the case of SM Krishna and Veerendra Patil.
•    Chances of the party old guard backing him.

Challenges:
•    Siddaramaiah's experience, seniority and mass appeal.
•    Chances of large number of MLAs backing Siddaramaiah.
•    Legal hurdles because of cases filed by central agencies.
•    Call for a Dalit or Lingayat CM.
•    Rahul Gandhi's apparent backing of Siddaramaiah.

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News Network
March 28,2024

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Russia says it is "extremely hard to believe" that Daesh could have staged the recent hugely deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall that the country's intelligence and security officials have blamed on Ukraine and its Western backers.

Four gunmen burst into the Russian capital's Crocus City Hall on Friday and began shooting at the people, who were attending an event. The Takfiri terrorist group has allegedly claimed responsibility for the massacre that killed at least 143.

Speaking on Wednesday, however, Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova cast that claim into serious doubt.

"In order to ward off suspicions from the collective West, they urgently needed to come up with something, so they resorted to ISIS (Daesh), pulled an ace out of their sleeve, and literally a few hours after the terrorist attack, the Anglo-Saxon media began disseminating precisely these versions," she said.

The chief of the Russian internal intelligence (FSB), Alexander Bortnikov has suggested that not only Ukraine, but also the United States and Britain might have been behind the shooting.

The Russian Federal Security Service has also said the gunmen planned to travel to Ukraine, where they were to be welcomed as "heroes." The FSB said Western intelligence services aided the attackers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has also suggested that Ukraine stood to derive benefit from the attack and that Kiev might have played a role.

He has said that someone on the Ukrainian side had prepared a "window" for the gunmen to escape across the border before they were captured in western Russia on Friday night.

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News Network
March 27,2024

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The Enforcement Directorate has filed a money laundering case against Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's daughter Veena Vijayan, her IT company and some others to probe a case of alleged illegal payments made by a private mineral firm to her and the company, official sources said Wednesday.

The agency has registered a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to summon the people involved, the sources said.

The ED case has been booked after taking cognisance of a complaint filed by the Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), an investigative arm of the Union corporate affairs ministry, they said.

The case stems from an Income Tax Department investigation that alleged that a private company called Cochin Minerals And Rutile Ltd (CMRL), made an illegal payment of Rs 1.72 crore to Veena's company-- Exalogic Solutions-- during 2018 to 2019, even though the IT firm had not provided any service to the company.

The Karnataka High Court had last month dismissed a plea filed by Exalogic Solutions against the probe initiated by the SFIO.

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News Network
March 28,2024

Mangaluru, Mar 28: Dakshina Kannada deputy commissioner Mullai Muhilan MP has warned the individuals and political parties against the poll code violations during private events. 
 
“Private events such as marriages, birthdays, housewarming ceremonies, and other non-political programmes do not require any permission. However, one should ensure that there is no violation of the model code of conduct (MCC) at these functions. Permission is needed if the events are attended by politicians or candidates,” the DC said. 

He said that these gatherings will be under the surveillance of MCC teams, as there are chances of luring voters by campaigning and supplying food, said the DC. The district has 38,386 new voters, of which, 19,619 are men.

He said that the notification of election in Dakshina Kannada Lok Sabha constituency will be issued soon, and the filing of nominations will be held between 11 am and 3 pm till April 4. 

Only five persons, including the candidate, will be allowed to enter the returning officer’s chamber to submit the nominations. A facilitation centre will be opened at the DC’s office. 

The expenditure of the candidate will be counted from the day the candidate files the nomination.

The DC said that the district is not an expenditure-sensitive constituency. Assistant expenditure observers and expenditure observers will monitor the expenditure of the candidates. An expenditure book will be provided to the candidate to record expenditure incurred, he explained.

Further, he said that no election materials can be printed without the name and address of the publishers, and the number of copies printed. Separate permission should be availed for procession prior to the submission of nomination papers from the ARO office, through the single-window system.

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