A hero's welcome awaits Sadananda Gowda in Mangalore

August 11, 2011

Mangalore, August 11: The Dakshina Kannada district BJP has decided to extend a warm welcome to the new Chief Minister Sadananada Gowda on his first visit to the district.

Padmanabha Kottari, District BJP President told media persons that CM would be brought in a procession from the airport and would be felicitated at Sangha Niketan.

“The CM might visit either on Saturday or after Independence day”, said Kottari. However the exact date of CM's visit is not yet fixed.

'Cong Frustration'

Reacting to the remarks made by DK Congress President B Ramanath Rai, who described the new cabinet as 'Alibaba and his 40 associates', Mr Kottari said it shows the frustration and disappointment of a Congressman, who dreamt of failure of BJP Government.

Funds

Mr Kottari said that district had received an annual fund of Rs 6 crore. “Zilla Panchayat has received Rs 1 crore while all the five Taluk Panchayats have received Rs 1 crore each for development,” he informed.

“Rs 200 crores have been granted to MCC by, out of which 100 crores have been spent on development activities”, he said.

Dixit should resign

He also demanded that Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dixit to step down from office as she is accused of being involved in the Commonwealth Games scam.

Shailaja Bhat, President, Zilla Panchayat, Nitin Bhat, Vice-President, Zilla Panchayat were among the others present in the press conference.

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Campus politics: DKS pushes to restore student elections in Karnataka banned since 1989

News Network

November 26,2025

Bengaluru, Nov 26: Karnataka is taking its first concrete steps towards lifting a three-decade-old ban on student elections in colleges and universities. Deputy Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar announced Wednesday that the state government will form a small committee to study the reintroduction of campus polls, a practice halted in 1989 following incidents of violence.

Speaking at a 'Constitution Day' event organised by the Karnataka Congress, Mr. Shivakumar underscored the move's aim: nurturing new political leadership from the grassroots.

"Recently, (Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha) Rahul Gandhi wrote a letter to me and Chief Minister (Siddaramaiah) asking us to think about restarting student elections," Shivakumar stated. "I'm announcing today that we'll form a small committee and seek a report on this."

Student elections were banned in Karnataka in 1989, largely due to concerns over violence and the infiltration of political party affiliates into campus life. The ban effectively extinguished vibrant student bodies and the pipeline of young leaders they often produced.

Mr. Shivakumar, who also serves as the Karnataka Congress president, said that former student leaders will be consulted to "study the pros and cons" of the re-introduction.

Acknowledging the history of the ban, he added, "There were many criminal activities taking place back then. We’ll see how we can conduct (student) elections by regulating such criminal activities."

The Deputy CM reminisced about his own journey, which began on campus. He recalled his political activism at Sri Jagadguru Renukacharya College leading to his first Assembly ticket in 1985 at the age of 23. "That's how student leadership was at the time. Such leadership has gone today. College elections have stopped," he lamented, adding that for many, college elections were "like a big movement" where leaders were forged.

The move, driven by the Congress high command's push to cultivate young talent, will face scrutiny from academics and university authorities who have, in the past, expressed concern that the return of polls could disrupt the peaceful academic environment and turn campuses into political battlegrounds.

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