Make your votes count
In democracy, the citizens are kings and our elected representatives are there to serve us and the society we live in. Even when we know this is an illusion, there is some happiness in believing it. The citizens, no doubt, are kings and hence are important. But that’s only on the day of voting. All the other days we live being servile to the politicians is the hard truth we are all used to. But then we cannot blame our rulers alone for this. They have been capitalizing on the weakness of voters since long. Our constitution has entrusted us with the right to choose an able candidate as our representative. But we have ‘sold’ that power for small prices. As a result, we are happy being single day kings.
We sell our votes for caste, community, faith, alcohol, sarees, small gifts or even money and spend rest of the days cursing the elected representatives. That cursing is like spitting at the sky. It lands right back on our face. Once we lose the opportunity to vote, we need five years to get it again. More than anything else, we need to take a vow that our votes won’t go a waste. Because once we give it away like a gift to someone, we lose all rights over it. And gifting our votes to someone is the biggest act of treachery we can commit. Likewise we shouldn’t sell our votes either. Once we give it away for sarees, money, alcohol and other small items that can never compensate for the power of vote, we cannot expect the elected candidate to work for us because we would have then handed over the power to him. It becomes corruption. And corruption never begets integrity or power. It makes us weak. Just the way as money, alcohol distribution is wrong; seeking votes in the name of religion is equally terrible. These politicians who do not do much, are now back to seek votes in the name of everything else apart from the works they did. Violence and development can never go hand in hand.
Constitution has given us the rights to choose our representatives. The ones who are speaking against the constitution need the old system to exist where some people had default access to society’s privileges, and one could never choose their representatives. When we go to vote today, we need to remember this. There are elements that want to push us to the medieval way of living such as the feudal system. These people want to push us into the system where we are rendered voiceless. We need to give our votes as a loan, not as a payment of gratitude to the candidate. When he/she knows they have this vote as a loan on them, they will be forced to repay it. And even those who give it as a loan, will have the rights seek repayment of the same. In case of no candidate being the appropriate one, we always have choice of NOTA where we can reject all candidates. But then, sometimes even this does not seem like a feasible solution since NOTA would still mean the candidate with highest votes is declared the winner either way. Why should we waste the vote? Let’s then make a choice of better ones among the lot.
Voting is the foundation of democracy. This would contribute to how strong the structure would be. Every stone to the foundation counts. Even one bad stone can contribute to the weakness of the structure at some point in time. Hence, let’s support those candidates who work to strengthen the identity of Kannada, Karnataka and its people. We need to provide strength to those ones who work for the empowerment of the poor, and hold up the integrity of the state. We owe this to our state and its people.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
