Two more days to go!
We are left with only two days for the election and this one has been a very high profile one with Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah ran this time around. Many rounds of campaigning has been done. Thursday Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi will engage in last minute campaigning, and that would mark the end of such public activities as per the EC’s directive.
Party workers can, however, continue with door-to-door campaigning in the constituency. CM Siddaramaiah has toured the entire state once. When compared to last time, this election poses an intricate and close challenge. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has seen this as a question of his party’s survival. Though he was to have wrapped his campaigning with 15 rallies in Karnataka, the number was later increased to 21. He spoke mostly unrelated and fake facts in his speeches. He spoke of Mudhol dogs in Jamakhandi, and then in Dharwad he mispronounced the name of Varakavi Bendre. His lies continued into daylight with his saying Vajpayee government which came in to power in 1996 had given Bharata Ratna to Dr B R Ambedkar while the posthumous award was accorded to the architect of Indian constitution by the government of former PM V P Singh in 1990 itself.
He then said President Ram Nath Kovind was the first Dalit to rise to that office. But, fact remains that India’s first Dalit president is K R Narayanan, and not Kovind. Continuing with his lies, Modi heaped praises on H D Devegowda in Udupi and then derided him in Bangalore when he came to campaign.
Though campaigning is usually restricted to Mangalore, Bangalore, Hubballi, Belagavi etc; Modi created a base for himself in Karnataka this time and made it his home till his campaigning ended. Looks like the fear of failure and losing has altered his ability to speak. He mispronounced the words in Kannada, personally criticized CM Siddaramaiah and kept the audience engaged. What he could not do however, is stick to a narrative and provide constructive criticism of the state government. He never broached any topics to train his guns on the state. Schemes such as Anna Bhagya have given the state good name since people didn’t have to starve even when they reeled under the drought. Migration had been checked with this and hence the anti-incumbency hasn’t been such a huge force in the state. But about 50,000 activists who arrived into Karnataka from other states, tried creating an artificial rage against Siddaramaiah by giving wrong information against state government in the households. Even then, they failed miserably.
BJP tried its best to create anti-incumbency against the state government by creating and placing advertisements in the media. Even the PM repeated the slogan ‘change the government’ in his speeches. IT department was roped in and some raids were conducted too. The whole standard of this campaigning hit the rock bottom. The PM tried saying the state government should have celebrated Onake Obavva jayanthi instead of Tipu Jayanthi when he addressed a rally in Chitradurga.
BJP leaders and Union Ministers tried creating communal disharmony all through their speeches, with Union Minister Ananth Kumar speaking with no control over his speech. However, the EC is yet to act on him. With the public campaigning ending today, one phase of the election seems to have been over with only voting left to be done.
There are serious doubts about people and party workers regarding the EVMs. The responsibility to sort out this apprehension lies with the EC, who has assured that VVPAT would be installed with the voting machines. Hence the voters will definitely know if their vote went to the intended person.
In the recent times, even the Election Commission has attracted criticism. Complaints of Narendra Modi govt taking everything into their control, which aren’t unfounded either. The postponement of poll dates in Gujarat had come under heavy criticism. The Delhi High Court had dismissed the step of Election Commission for having disqualified 20 MLAs of AAP. The court had said the government had not worked according to the interest and appropriateness of the whole aspect of disqualification.
The Election Commission has to work as per the framework irrespective of the ruling dispensation. But having tried to please the current government, EC was criticized heavily. This would lead to protection and upliftment of Democracy, the court had said.
The Karnataka General elections are a huge challenge for the EC to retain its credibility by conducting free and fair elections. It has to take a tough stance on code of conduct violations.
Free and fair elections are not just the prerogative of Election Commission, but the duty of many public institutions as well. The Mining mafia members have been entering politics to safeguard their interests, which lead to unfair practices in elections. The proof lies in the fact that 9000 voter ids were found stacked in one house in Bangalore. There are rumours that BJP wants to postpone these elections by way of blaming the congress. Conspiracies are aplenty to create communal, caste and religious unrest across the state. But the EC has to take a tough stance against this with able help from the governments that come into existence later. No matter how strong a man who is trying to drive a wedge in the name of caste, faith etc; the EC should take severe action against such people to ensure voting is done peacefully.
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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.
