BJP questions Rahul Gandhi's 'silence' over farmers' agitation in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): Opposition BJP in Karnataka on Wednesday questioned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's silence over sugarcane farmers' agitation in Karnataka, and demanded the government fix the price of their produce at Rs 3,500 a tonne.
Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition R Ashoka, asked Rahul Gandhi, "Where is Kisan Nyay (farmer justice) for the farmers of Karnataka?" and he accused the Congress government in the state of being "anti-farmer".
Various farmers' organisations, the opposition BJP, students and others supported the farmers' protest that spread across many districts of north Karnataka, like Belagavi, Bagalkote, Haveri.
State BJP President B Y Vijayendra, who joined the protesting farmers in Belagavi on Tuesday, took part in the overnight agitation. Farmer leaders greeted Vijayendra, whose birthday is on Wednesday.
"If Rahul Gandhi's heart really beats for farmers, why is he silent when Karnataka's sugarcane growers have been forced to block highways for 6 straight days?" Ashoka asked.
"As many as 26 sugar factories were shut. Roads and highways were blocked. Markets, schools and businesses closed. Farmers are begging the government to talk. But the Congress High Command is busy campaigning in Bihar," he said in a post on 'X'.
Alleging that CM Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM D K Shivakumar are busy saving and clinching chairs, Ashoka said, confused Ministers and MLAs don't know which faction to please, and have become blind and deaf to farmers' suffering.
"So is Rahul Gandhi's so-called Kisan Nyay limited to Election manifestoes? Political rallies in other states? TV sound bites when cameras are rolling?" he questioned.
Asking Rahul Gandhi to at least show the courtesy to speak to the farmers of the state, where his own party is ruling, the opposition leader said, the truth is bitter. Congress Kisan Nyay (farmer justice) has become Kisan Vanchana (deception).
"Shame on this Kisan-Virodhi Congress government," he added.
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'Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane...': Tharoor takes dig at failed US-Iran talks in Pakistan
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New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday took a swipe at the "failed" US-Iran peace talks in Pakistan with an Urdu couplet, saying only god knows now what will happen.
"Ab kya hoga, ye rab jane; Na woh mane, na ye mane (only god knows what will happen now as both sides did not agree)," Tharoor said on X, tagging a post-talks video clip of US Vice President J D Vance, who led the American delegation at the negotiations in Islamabad.
The United States and Iran failed to reach a peace deal at their historic 21-hour talks in Pakistan, leaving the fate of a tenuous two-week ceasefire in doubt, with both sides attempting to hold each other responsible for the collapse of the negotiations.
अब क्या होगा, ये रब जाने
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 13, 2026
ना वो माने, ना ये माने https://t.co/DYrXpa7C8h
Vance said the Iranian side did not accept Washington's terms for ending the war even as the US presented its "final and best offer".
Hours after the talks collapsed, US President Donald Trump said on social media that the negotiations with Tehran failed as "Iran is unwilling to give up its nuclear ambitions".
Trump said the US Navy will actively interdict any vessel in international waters found to have paid tolls to Iran for transiting through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical shipping route that handles roughly 20 per cent of global oil and LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas).
Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, the head of the Iranian negotiation team, said it is for the US to decide whether it can "earn our trust or not".
The Iranian foreign ministry, without elaborating, said the US side resorted to "excessive" and "illegal demands".
The failure to reach an agreement has dimmed the prospect of reopening the Strait of Hormuz to stabilise the global energy marke
