New Delhi (PTI): A proposed board meeting of the Sir Ratan Tata Trust (SRTT), which was supposed to take up the appointment of Neville Tata, son of Tata Trusts Chairman Noel Tata, as a trustee on Saturday is understood to have been cancelled due to lack of quorum.
The cancellation of the meeting comes over two months after the failure of the first attempt to induct Neville Tata on the board of SRTT, which holds 23.6 per cent in Tata Sons, the promoter holding firm of the over USD 180 billion Tata Group.
"All trustees could not attend, which is a requirement for trustee appointment," a person with direct knowledge of the development said.
The meeting could be rescheduled in the next few days, the person added.
However, others said the cancellation could be to take more time for discussion among the trustees to reach a consensus on the appointment.
Query to Tata Trusts remained unanswered.
The trustees of SRTT are Noel Tata, Venu Srinivasan, Vijay Singh Jimmy N Tata, Jehangir HC Jehangir and Darius Khambata.
In November last, Neville Tata and former group company leader Bhaskar Bhat were appointed to the Sri Dorabji Tata Trust (SDTT), which owns 28 per cent in Tata Sons. However, they couldn't be appointed to the SRTT, which holds 23.6 per cent in Tata Sons. Other Tata-affiliated trusts own 13.8 per cent in Tata Sons.
It was apparently because of an objection raised by Venu Srinivasan.
Srinivasan, who was unanimously made lifelong trustee in October 2025, had to witness his appointment revisited "in compliance with legal and regulatory requirements".
The Maharashtra government had in September 2025 amended the Maharashtra Public Trusts Act, thereby limiting the number of lifetime trustees to one-fourth of the board strength and mandated fixed terms where trust deeds are silent.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Saturday dismissed speculation over confusion in the BJP-JD(S) alliance, asserting that there was clarity within them and that discussions on the chief minister post were premature.
Addressing reporters at the party's state office, JP Bhavan, after chairing a preparatory meeting for the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) elections, he said the immediate priority was to remove what he termed an "anti-people government" in the state and to strengthen the alliance to face upcoming polls.
"This is not the time to discuss who should become the chief minister. There is still time for that. If we speak about it now, it would be like stitching the cradle even before the baby is born," Kumaraswamy said, underlining that leadership questions would be taken up at an appropriate time.
The JD(S) second-in-command said there is still a lot of work to be done and it was not appropriate to speak about such matters now.
"On the issue of alliance, both I and our party are open-minded. When the time comes, we will discuss it on the party platform and take a decision. There is no confusion regarding the alliance, and there will be no confusion in the future. This is my stand," Kumaraswamy said.
"There is a bad government in the state. My objective is to remove it and bring in a pro-people government. Removing this corrupt and bad government is my agenda. The JD(S) and BJP parties will work together to accomplish this task," he added.
Reiterating his stand, Kumaraswamy said, "My objective is to remove the anti-people government in the state. I have been saying this from the beginning."
On reports of internal differences over the alliance and the CM's position, the union minister said he would not respond to every statement made by individuals.
"Some people are speaking about the alliance and the chief minister's position. I do not feel the need to respond to them. If I start answering each of them, people may think I lack maturity. Therefore, I will not speak about it. We will strengthen the alliance together, face the elections together, and bring a pro-people government," he said.
Kumaraswamy added that discussions within parties were natural and not final.
He said there were still two years left for the Assembly elections while there were four to five months left for the local body elections.
The union minister said the JD(S) is also preparing for the municipal elections in Bengaluru city just as other parties.
He clarified that there had been no discussions so far between the two parties specifically on local body or GBA elections.
Earlier, the JD(S) leader chaired a meeting with Members of the Legislative Council, former MLAs and other leaders of his party to review preparations for the GBA elections.
