Cong leaders from K’taka to meet party brass in Delhi tomorrow to discuss plan for LS polls: DKShi
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar on Tuesday said about 50 state Congress leaders and ministers will be meeting the party leadership in New Delhi on August 2 to strategise on a plan of action for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
AICC President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leader Rahul Gandhi, General Secretaries K C Vengopal and Randeep Singh Surjewala among others are likely to participate in the meeting in the national capital.
Ahead of leaving for Delhi, Shivakumar, who is the Karnataka Congress president, said he will also be meeting few Union ministers to discuss issues and projects related to the state.
The meeting with the Congress top brass is seen as significant amid brewing discontent within the ruling party with as many as 30 legislators reportedly having written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the party leadership expressing concern over non-implementation of development works in their constituencies and functioning of certain ministers.
"There is a meeting in Delhi tomorrow, today I will be meeting some central Ministers there. There is party work and also government work. So, I'm going to Delhi," Shivakumar told reporters here.
Stating that the party meeting with state ministers and leaders in Delhi is keeping in mind the Lok Sabha polls, he said it is to discuss and plan a strategy on what all needs to be done in the interest of the Congress, ahead of elections.
Shivakumar further said the intention is that the district in-charge ministers should take the responsibility of elections and start touring from now itself. They should also reach out to people and keep tabs on the implementation of the flagship poll guarantee schemes, he said, adding a strategy will be planned for it in the meeting.
"Not only ministers and some legislators, about 8-10 non-MLA senior leaders have been called for the meeting. Also, MPs have been invited. Totally about 50 people, and they will meet the party leadership in three divisions," he added.
Several ruling party legislators are said to be miffed and have complained that they had not been able to get work done in their constituencies, and have not been granted powers to decide on transfers (of government servants) as requested. They are said to have expressed unhappiness regarding some ministers, alleging that they were not cooperating with them.
Following this, the Chief Minister had last week held a Congress Legislature Party meeting, where some legislators expressed their displeasure regarding behaviour and conduct of certain ministers.
There are also reports about talks regarding the need for a coordination committee, for better connect between government and the party, which has not been confirmed by the state Congress.
However, Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar and several ministers of the state government have maintained that there is no disgruntlement in the ruling party.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
