Challenges Before the New Chief Minister
By selecting Basavaraj Bommai as the new Karnataka Chief Minister, the BJP Central leaders have taken a smart decision. The Sangh Parivar-backed group within the BJP which planned to snatch power from the Lingayats in the State has beaten a retreat at least for the time being. At the same time, however, it has succeeded only partially in its first attempt. Having realized the strength of the outgoing Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa and the Lingayat lobby which backed him to the hilt, the Sangh-Parivar group had to make amends to its original plan. The developments in Karnataka are thus seen as the BJP’s central leadership giving in to Yediyurappa by choosing one of his close confidantes for the hot seat. The RSS and the Central leadership will now keep a close watch on the new dispensation and will keep experimenting their agenda and push it ahead wherever possible during the two years before the next Assembly elections.
Compared to the known faces in BJP, the selection of Basavaraj Bommai is an excellent choice both for the state and for the BJP. The Central leadership’s selection was unexpected for the Hindutva hardliners in the BJP. By choosing Bommai, who has a history of working with Siddaramaiah, who is not identified prominently with the RSS and most importantly, is a confidante of Yediyurappa, the BJP leaders saved the state from the rule of a Hindutva hardliner. His choice must have come as a surprise to Bommai himself. His father S.R.Bommai became the Chief Minister in similar unexpected circumstances in 1988 and was in the post only for eight months. Power that comes unexpectedly can be lost as unexpectedly. If Basavaraja Bommai has internalized this lesson from his father’s experience, he will know how to moderate his own expectations from the post, given the current situation in the BJP.
Given the track record of the institutionalized corruption during Yediyurappa’s rule, it will be futile to expect the state’s administration to be back on the rails with a mere change of Chief Minister. If the Centre continues its step-motherly treatment of the state in providing funds, the new Chief Minister will also become helpless. When Yediyurappa was the Chief Minister, the Centre did not release the full share of GST to the state and repeatedly turned down the state’s request for adequate compensation during droughts and floods. The Central leadership did not back Yediyurappa politically either. He was not allowed to expand his cabinet for months after he was sworn in as Chief Minister in 2019. If only his cabinet colleagues had cooperated with him fully, Yediyurappa would have been able to give a much better administration. As he was making futile trips to Delhi to convince the Centre to release more funds, the State’s contingent of 25 MPs from his party did not come to his help. Instead they sided with the Centre and issued open statements that the State had adequate funds. That was at a time when Yediyurappa was staring at an empty treasury. The new Chief Minister can do any good to the state only if all these change in the coming days.
It is foolish to assume that the selection of Basavaraj Bommai will end dissidence in the BJP. Those who were personally dissatisfied with Yeddiyurappa might have found solace with his replacement but the source of their grouse was not addressed. Senior leader Jagadish Shettar has stated already that he will not join the new cabinet. Another senior leader Eshwarappa has demanded the post of the deputy Chief Minister. A group of seers from his Kuruba caste have voiced this demand on his behalf. Other prominent leaders such as Yatnal and Umesh Katti are sharpening their knives. Legislators in the pro-Yediyurappa group are obviously hurt. The new cabinet will have to accommodate the opposition turncoats whose support is crucial for the government to survive. In addition to all this, the silence of RSS leaders can also be analyzed in different ways. The new Chief Minister has said that he will take Yediyurappa’s guidance for administration. However, if Yediyurappa starts interfering in the administration, it will give rise to fresh problems. Similarly, if Bommai keeps Yediyurappa and his son at a distance, the father and son duo will start groupism within the party and may even lead a breakaway faction. Yediyurappa’s son has allegedly amassed such wealth during the two years of his father’s rule.
Most importantly, RSS which has not been able to implement its game plan fully can continue to sponsor groupism within the party to push for the kind of change that it wants to see in the government. It will obviously want to back leaders such as Prahlad Joshi, B L Santhosh, or Tejaswi Surya as Chief Ministers as they are the main torch bearers of its ideology.
If Bommai is able to provide good administration despite such challenges lined up before him, it would truly be his achievement. It is the duty of the Central leaders and RSS leaders therefore to cooperate with Bommai to provide good administration to the state that is reeling under Coronavirus, lockdown, and floods. Karnataka does not have the strength or the patience to witness yet another change in Chief Ministers before the next elections due in early 2022.
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Texas halts H-1B visas at state universities, agencies; to affect Indians
Houston (US) (PTI): Texas Governor Greg Abbott has ordered state agencies and public universities to immediately halt new H-1B visa petitions, tightening hiring rules at taxpayer-funded institutions, a step likely to impact Indian professionals.
The freeze will remain in effect through May 2027.
The directive issued on Tuesday said that the state agencies and public universities must stop filing new petitions unless they receive written approval from the Texas Workforce Commission.
The governor's order, in a red state that is home to thousands of H-1B visa holders, comes as the Trump administration has initiated steps to reshape the visa programme.
“In light of recent reports of abuse in the federal H-1B visa programme, and amid the federal government’s ongoing review of that programme to ensure American jobs are going to American workers, I am directing all state agencies to immediately freeze new H-1B visa petitions as outlined in this letter,” Abbot said.
Institutions must also report on H-1B usage, including numbers, job roles, countries of origin, and visa expiry dates, the letter said.
US President Donald Trump on September 19 last year signed a proclamation ‘Restriction on entry of certain non-immigrant workers’ that restricted the entry into the US of those workers whose H-1B petitions are not accompanied or supplemented by a payment of USD 1,00,000.
The H1-B visa fee of USD 1,00,000 would be applicable only to new applicants, i.e. all new H-1B visa petitions submitted after September 21, including those for the FY2026 lottery.
Indians make up an estimated 71 per cent of all approved H-1B applications in recent years, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), with China in the second spot. The major fields include technology, engineering, medicine, and research.
Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is the second-highest beneficiary with 5,505 approved H-1B visas in 2025, after Amazon (10,044 workers on H-1B visas), according to the USCIS. Other top beneficiaries include Microsoft (5,189), Meta (5,123), Apple (4,202), Google (4,181), Deloitte (2,353), Infosys (2,004), Wipro (1,523) and Tech Mahindra Americas (951).
Texas public universities employ hundreds of foreign faculty and researchers, many from India, across engineering, healthcare, and technology fields.
Date from Open Doors -- a comprehensive information resource on international students and scholars studying or teaching at higher education institutions in the US -- for 2022-2023 showed 2,70,000 students from India embarked on graduate and undergraduate degrees in US universities, accounting for 25 per cent of the international student population in the US and 1.5 per cent of the total student population.
Indian students infuse roughly USD 10 billion annually into universities and related businesses across the country through tuition and other expenses – while also creating around 93,000 jobs, according to the Open Doors data.
Analysts warn the freeze could slow recruitment of highly skilled professionals, affecting academic research and innovation.
Supporters say the directive protects local jobs, while critics caution it could weaken Texas’ competitiveness in higher education and research.
The order comes amid broader debate in the US over skilled immigration and state-level interventions in federal programmes.
H-1B visas allow US companies to hire technically-skilled professionals that are not easily available in America. Initially granted for three years, these can be extended for another three years.
In September 2025, Trump had also signed an executive order ‘The Gold Card’, aimed at setting up a new visa pathway for those committed to supporting the United States; with individuals who can pay USD 1 million to the US Treasury, or USD 2 million if a corporation is sponsoring them, to get access to expedited visa treatment and a path to a Green Card.
