Karnataka effect: RJD, Congress stake claim for governments in Bihar, Goa
Panaji/Patna, May 17: The Congress in Goa and the RJD in Bihar on Thursday said they would ask the governors of their states to give them a chance to form the government the same way that BJP leader B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn-in in Karnataka as the leader of the single largest party.
"If the Karnataka Governor can invite the Bharatiya Janata Party, the single largest party, to form the government, why can't the Goa Governor invite the Congress, the single largest party in Goa, to form the government here? Why two criteria for two states? Why double standards? Congress state President Girish Chodankar told reporters.
Chodankar demanded that Governor Mridula Sinha should follow in the footsteps of her Karnataka counterpart Vajubhai Vala and invite the Congress, which emerged as the single largest party in the Assembly after the 2017 Assembly elections, to form the government in the coastal state.
"We request Her Excellency to follow big brother Karnataka Governor and invite the Congress to form the Goa government to rectify a wrong."
The BJP won 13 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections, compared with 17 of the Congress.
However, after swift political maneuvering, the BJP staked claim to power with two regional parties and independent MLAs and formed a coalition government after getting the nod from Sinha.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav too wanted Bihar Governor Satyapal Malik to invite his party to form the government as the leader of the single largest party in the state Assembly.
"I will meet the Governor along with our MLAs on Friday as we are the single largest party in Bihar," Tejashwi Yadav, who is also the Opposition leader in the Bihar Assembly, said.
The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader said that if the Bharatiya Janata Party was invited by the Karnataka Governor to form the government on the grounds that it was the single largest party, then the RJD also had the right to form the government.
"We will request the Bihar Governor to dismiss the state government and invite the RJD to form the government," he said.
In Karnataka, BJP's B.S. Yeddyurappa was sworn in as Chief MInister by Governor Vala, despite protests from the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular, which formed a post-poll coalition to bid for power.
The combine of the Congress and the JD-S too had staked its claim to forming a government by citing the support of 117 MLAs. The majority mark in the Karnataka assembly is 112 seats. The BJP has 104.
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India harbouring big and bold dreams in space sector: Shubhanshu Shukla
Kolkata (PTI): Air Force Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, the first Indian astronaut to go to the International Space Station, on Wednesday said the country is harbouring “big and bold dreams”, foraying into human spaceflight after a hiatus of 41 years.
Shukla was the first Indian to visit the International Space Station as part of the Axiom-4 mission. He returned to India from the US on August 17, 2025, after the 18-day mission.
The space is a “great place to be”, marked by deep peace and an “amazing view” that becomes more captivating with time, he said, interacting with schoolchildren at an event organised by the Indian Centre for Space Physics here.
“The longer you stay, the more you enjoy it,” Shukla said, adding on a lighter note that he “actually kind of did not want to come back”.
Shukla said the hands-on experience in space was very different from what he had learnt during training.
He said the future of India’s space science was “very bright”, with the country harbouring “very big and bold dreams”.
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Shukla described his ISS flight, undertaken with support from the US, as a crucial “stepping stone” towards realising India’s ‘Vision Gaganyaan’.
“The experience gained is a national asset. It is already being used by internal committees and design teams to ensure ongoing missions are on the right track,” he said.
Shukla said the country’s space ambitions include the Gaganyaan human spaceflight programme, the Bharatiya Station (India’s own space station), and eventually a human landing on the Moon.
While the Moon mission is targeted for 2040, he said these projects are already in the pipeline, and the field will evolve at a “very rapid pace” over the next 10-20 years.
He told the students that though these targets are challenging, they are “achievable by people like you”, urging them to take ownership of India’s aspirations.
The sector will generate “a lot of employment opportunities” as India expands its human spaceflight capabilities, he noted.
Echoing the iconic words of India’s first astronaut Rakesh Sharma, Shukla said that from orbit, “India is still the best in the world”.
Shukla also asserted that the achievement was not his alone, but that of the entire country.
“The youth of India are extremely talented. They must stay focused, remain curious and work hard. It is their responsibility to help build a developed India by 2047,” he said.
Highlighting a shift from Sharma’s era, Shukla said India is now developing a full-fledged astronaut ecosystem.
With Gaganyaan and future missions, children in India will be able to not only dream of becoming astronauts, but also achieving it within the country, he said.
“Space missions help a village kid believe he can go to space someday. When you send one person to space, you lift million hopes. That is why such programmes must continue... The sky is not the limit,” Shukla said.
“Scientists must prepare for systems that will last 20-30 years, while ensuring they can integrate technologies that will emerge a decade from now,” he said.
Shukla added that he looked forward to more space missions, and was keen to undertake a space walk, which will require him to "train for another two years".
