Naveen Dalal who attacked JNU leader Umar Khalid is Shiv Sena candidate from Haryana's Bahadurgarh
Bahadurgarh: Naveen Dalal, accused in an attack on former JNU student leader Umar Khalid in Delhi last year, is contesting the Haryana Assembly polls on a Shiv Sena ticket from Bahadurgarh.
The self-proclaimed 'gau rakshak' (cow protector) said he joined the Shiv Sena six months ago because he felt parties like the BJP and the Congress only did "politics in the name of cows, farmers, martyrs and the poor".
"I joined this party because its policies and stand on these and other issues are clear," he said on Wednesday. Dalal, 29, said he had been fighting for issues like cow protection for the past ten years.
"I felt that parties like the BJP and the Congress only do politics in the name of cows, farmers," he said. Dalal said the support of the people motivated him to join politics.
"I got so much support from the people of my constituency. They motivated me to join politics so that I could vigorously take up the causes close to my heart as I could get a bigger platform," he said over phone.
From the Bahadurgarh assembly seat, Dalal faces ruling BJP's sitting MLA Naresh Kaushik, Congress' Rajinder Singh Joon, INLD's Nafe Singh Rathee among other the 20 contestants.
Dalal, along with another man, had allegedly attacked Khalid at the Constitution Club in Delhi on August 13 last year.
The two men were later arrested from Fatehabad in Haryana's Hisar district and both had claimed that they were cow vigilantes and wanted to draw attention towards the protection of the animal.
The duo had told police that they had planned to disrupt the event 'Khauff se Azaadi' (Freedom from Fear) that was being held at the Constitution Club.
When asked about the incident, Dalal, who is currently on bail in the case, said he would not like to talk about it now as he was busy in election campaigning.
In his poll affidavit, Dalal has mentioned about the Delhi incident and two more cases pending against him.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge met a high-level delegation from Chile, led by Chilean Foreign Minister Francisco Pérez Mackenna, at Vidhana Soudha on Thursday to discuss collaboration in emerging technologies, clean energy, and startup ecosystems, officials said.
The delegation’s visit to Bengaluru, as part of its India engagements, underscores Karnataka’s growing prominence as a preferred partner for global collaborations in technology, innovation, and startup ecosystems, officials added.
The discussions reflected strong alignment between Chile’s evolving technology-focused growth strategy and Karnataka’s established leadership in innovation and deep-tech ecosystems, according to a statement.
Both sides explored opportunities to build partnerships that move beyond traditional sectors and focus on innovation-led growth, talent exchange, and market access.
The meeting focused on opportunities in renewable energy, including green hydrogen and sustainable industrial innovation.
Other potential areas of collaboration included marine biotechnology, aquaculture technologies, and AI applications across traditional industries.
According to the state IT minister, Karnataka is now a global hub for deep-tech, AI, biotech, aerospace, and advanced research, backed by one of the world’s strongest talent pipelines.
“As partners under the global innovation alliance, we must move beyond agreements on paper to actionable collaboration,” Kharge said.
“We are keen to work with Chile on startup exchanges, market access programmes, and building joint innovation corridors, including R&D centres, incubators, and accelerators. Chile’s position as a gateway to Latin America presents a significant opportunity for our startups to scale globally,” he added.
Officials said the engagement builds on the Letter of Intent signed between the Government of Karnataka and the Government of Chile during the Bengaluru Tech Summit, which established a framework for collaboration in startups, emerging technologies, research, and skill development under the Global Innovation Alliance.
Mackenna, Chile’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the country is actively advancing its transition toward a knowledge- and technology-driven economy.
“Our engagement with Karnataka reflects our interest in building strong innovation partnerships that enable technology exchange, talent collaboration, and access to dynamic startup ecosystems,” he added.
“We see significant potential to work together in sectors such as clean energy, digital technologies, and emerging industries, while also strengthening Chile’s role as a bridge between India and Latin America,” he said.
